Big Money Maths Part 2: Advanced

 This may scare many maths survivors, but it has to be said, explained, and stated explicitly, because simple maths keep good people from confronting big money. And it doesn't have to be that way. Big money gazing can be just a quirky, unusual, far-fetched hobby, but it is essential if you want to understand today's world. Fiat money, where numbers are not limited by the amount of gold present on planet Earth, is what determines nowadays who does what to whom and when. At least in a good portion of cases.

WARNING: This super-technical explanation applies mostly to reports written in English. Billions and Trillions may be different beasts when writing in French or Spanish, so if you have the brains to read in those languages, check Part 1 of Big Money Math.

Ok, here we go. Look at the following Big Number:

$ 987,654,321

First, notice that there are no pennies. No cents. We have no use for a decimal point. Anything after a decimal point would not even be mice or lice. Cents would be the equivalent of tardigrades and dust mites. And we want to look at the lions and bigger. So forget decimal points.

Now look at the "4". That's where the "thousands" are. Not big enough to count as Big Money yet, but it is going to be there if we have to write out any "Big Money" number in full. Not that it is done that often, but it comes handy sometimes.

Next, look at the "7". That's where the "millions" are. The smaller of the "lions". Finally, something worth gazing at. Sometimes.

So that is the rule. Beginning from the right, you need to skip over 3 figures to find the "thousands", and you need to skip over 6 figures to find the "millions". No billions or trillions yet. For that, we need a bigger Big Number, like ...

$ 3,210,987,654,321

So we added a few numbers to the left. Now, if you look at the "0", that's where the "billions" are. From the right, skip over nine figures to find your billions. And if you look at the "3", the one you find after skipping over twelve figures (the first "3" in this number), that's where the "trillions" are.

Not too hard. You already knew all of this, or at least suspected it. But we had to spell it out, to be absolutely certain and confident. Any FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, or Doubt) can completely ruin the sublime--and totally affordable--pleasure of Big Money gazing.

Now we are ready to roam over central bank reports, brainy economic projections, misleading money funds propaganda, and the like. If you are still apprehensive--and with all the financial misinformation and intimidation floating around you should be apprehensive--head to Part 3 of Big Money maths. Fear not, the hardest part is already behind you, in this post. Part 3 is just to handle a few "lions" in a safe environment, just so everybody can see how easy and simple it is. And safe, too. 

See you there.