RICH and RICHER: Big difference between millionaires and billionaires

It has recently been pointed out to me by a physicist that many people do not realize the vast difference between a million and a billion. A million seconds is only 11.6 days. A billion seconds is 31.7 years. By his calculations, a million $1 bills laid end to end would extend about 95 miles. A billion dollars laid end to end would extend about 95,000 miles. That means that the money would stretch around the Earth at the equator almost four times.

The message here is that in a fair society, there would be many millionaires, but few or no billionaires. Many couples working for some 40 years could save money and end up with a million dollars, or close to it. But if a couple or an individual ends up with a billion dollars, that’s 1,000 million dollars, 1,000 times what the average millionaire has. The implications of this math would probably not be understood by many Republicans.  

RON BOOTHE

Kingston