Brian Gongol
All figures are in current dollars, except where noted
| Amount | Description | Source | |
| $ | 13,600,000,000,000 | present value of projected actuarial deficit in the Social Security Trust Fund | 2008-04-22, Social Security and Medicare Boards of Trustees, Summary of the 2008 Annual Reports |
| $ | 10,632,005,246,737 | U.S. Federal debt on January 30, 2009 | 2009-01-30, US Department of the Treasury |
| $ | 9,000,000,000,000 | federal debt ceiling after limit increase, March 16, 2006 | 2006-03-16, VOA |
| $ | 3,000,800,000,000 | total federal, state, and local government receipts, FY2001 | 2003, Office of Management and Budget, Budget of the United States Government, FY2003 |
| $ | 2,792,611,000,000 | total federal spending, FY2008 | 2008, Consolidated Federal Funds Report, FY2008 |
| $ | 2,556,213,000,000 | total federal spending, FY2007 | 2007, Consolidated Federal Funds Report, FY2007 |
| $ | 2,162,204,000,000 | total federal spending, FY2004 | 2004, Consolidated Federal Funds Report, FY2004 |
| $ | 2,130,000,000,000 | China's foreign exchange reserves, July 2009 | 2009-07-15, "China's foreign reserves top $2 trillion", BBC News |
| $ | 1,778,884,261,773 | total federal spending, FY2001 | 2001, Consolidated Federal Funds Report, FY2001 |
| $ | 1,200,000,000,000 | estimated cost of war in Iraq through January 2007 | 2007-01-17, New York Times, "What $1.2 Trillion Can Buy" |
| $ | 853,700,000,000 | China's foreign reserves, February 2006 | 2006-03-29, Times of London, "Chinese Foreign Reserves to Exceed $1 Trillion" |
| $ | 787,000,000,000 | Federal economic stimulus package, February 2009 | 2009-02-12, USA Today, "How will the $787 billion stimulus package affect you?" |
| $ | 781,000,000,000 | increase in federal debt ceiling approved by Congress, March 16, 2006 | 2006-03-16, VOA |
| $ | 600,000,000,000 | Bush 2003 economic stimulus plan | 2003-01-06, CNN |
| $ | 489,300,000,000 | GDP of Poland, 2005 | 2006-01-10, CIA World Factbook |
| $ | 483,433,532,793 | Social Security expenditures in FY2001 | 2001, Consolidated Federal Funds Report, FY2001 |
| $ | 371,000,000,000 | estimated Federal budget deficit, FY 2006 | 2006-03-03, Congressional Budget Office |
| $ | 353,900,000,000 | GE's market capitalization, 2.17.2006 | 2006-02-17, Bigcharts.com |
| $ | 257,700,000,000 | GE's market capitalization, 1.7.2003 | 2003-01-07, Bigcharts.com |
| $ | 255,385,395,516 | DOD expenditures, FY2001 | 2001, Consolidated Federal Funds Report, FY2001 |
| $ | 153,000,000,000 | GDP of Chile, 2000 | 2002, CIA World Factbook 2002 |
| $ | 129,026,000,000 | gross state product of Iowa, 2007 | 2008-08-15, Iowa Workforce Development |
| $ | 120,400,000,000 | GE's market capitalization, 2.16.2009 | 2009-02-16, Bigcharts.com |
| $ | 106,000,000,000 | GDP of New Zealand, 2006 | 2007, CIA World Factbook 2007 |
| $ | 102,000,000,000 | gross state product of Iowa, 2003 | 2005-07-08, Iowa Workforce Development |
| $ | 88,000,000,000 | direct Federal expenditures in response to Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma through March 2006 | 2006-03-21, Brookings Institution, "Federal Allocations in Response to Katrina, Rita and Wilma" |
| $ | 85,000,000,000 | Federal funding for post-Katrina rebuilding of Gulf Coast | 2006, State of the Union Address |
| $ | 84,600,000,000 | gross state product of Iowa, 1999 | 2001, State of Iowa Comprehensive Annual Financial Report |
| $ | 78,365,000,000 | U.S. reserve assets, 12.27.2002 | 2003-01-15, Treasury Department |
| $ | 69,382,000,000 | average daily NYSE trading volume, January 2006 | 2006-01, NYSE Monthly Volume Release |
| $ | 67,000,000,000 | AT&T offer to buy BellSouth, March 2006 | 2006-03-06, Red Herring |
| $ | 60,000,000,000 | G8 aid pledge for developing world announced in June 2007 | 2007-06-08, Times of London, "G8 announces $60 billion aid deal - but accused of backtracking" |
| $ | 52,608,600,000 | annual sales by state lotteries, FY 2005 | 2006-05-09, North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries |
| $ | 50,000,000,000 | Bill Gates's net worth in 2009 | 2009, Forbes 400 |
| $ | 42,000,000,000 | Chinese plan to build a "new socialist countryside" | 2006-03-05, BBC News |
| $ | 41,400,000,000 | estimated FY 2009 losses from Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) | 2009-12, "Financial Audit: Office of Financial Stability (Troubled Asset Relief Program) Fiscal Year 2009 Financial Statements", Government Accountability Office |
| $ | 40,475,000,000 | Microsoft's cash and short-term investments on-hand, 2002 | 2003-01-07, Forbes online |
| $ | 40,000,000,000 | Warren Buffett's net worth in 2009 | 2009, Forbes 400 |
| $ | 40,000,000,000 | Google shareholder value lost in one-month drop in share prices, January to February 2006 | 2006-02-17, Christian Science Monitor |
| $ | 40,000,000,000 | cost to upgrade GPS navigation system for US air traffic | 2007-06-11, Los Angeles Times, "Carpool lanes for airplanes?" |
| $ | 37,000,000,000 | Warren Buffett's bequest to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation | 2006-07-05, The Age |
| $ | 37,000,000,000 | 2007 investments in Western financial companies by Mideastern and Asian sovereign funds | 2007-11-27, Financial Times, "Sovereign funds upbeat on growth of financials" |
| $ | 36,000,000,000 | Warren Buffett's net worth in 2002 | 2002, Forbes 400 |
| $ | 32,000,000,000 | stock market capitalization lost due to Enron collapse | 2002-04-15, Consumers Union |
| $ | 31,447,000,000 | Microsoft's cash and short-term investments on-hand, 2009 | 2009, Microsoft Corporation Annual Report 2009 |
| $ | 30,000,000,000 | financing package offered by Federal Reserve to aid in sale of Bear Stearns to JP Morgan | 2008-03-20, "JP Morgan buys Bear in fire sale, as Fed widens credit to avert crisis," Wall Street Journal |
| $ | 23,400,000,000 | discretionary budget, US Department of Energy, FY 2006 | 2006, Office of Management and Budget, Budget of the United States Government, FY 2006 |
| $ | 20,300,000,000 | estimated budget to rebuild Iraq | 2003-10-01, Nightline, ABC News |
| $ | 18,100,000,000 | Citigroup write-offs on bad loans in late 2007 | 2008-01-15, The Economist, "Citi's kitchen-sink moment?" |
| $ | 17,000,000,000 | Chinese order for Airbus airliners | 2007-11-26, Bloomberg, "Airbus wins $17 billion Chinese order for 160 planes" |
| $ | 15,538,519,844 | food stamps issued in FY2001 | 2001, Consolidated Federal Funds Report, FY2001 |
| $ | 12,750,000,000 | net losses at Ford Motor Co. in 2006 | 2007-01-25, "2006 was worst year ever for Ford", LA Times |
| $ | 10,390,665,000 | Iowa state government revenues, FY 2005 | 2005, State of Iowa Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, FY 2005 |
| $ | 10,000,000,000 | Chinese investment fund for southeast Asian countries | 2009-04-13, "China offers funds to boost ASEAN", BBC |
| $ | 9,500,000,000 | revised estimate to rebuild New Orleans levees after Hurricane Katrina | 2006-03-31, Washington Post, "Levee Repair Costs Triple" |
| $ | 9,000,000,000 | Iowa state government revenues, FY 2001 | 2001, State of Iowa Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, FY 2001 |
| $ | 7,500,000,000 | developer's estimate of cost to replace World Trade Center towers | 2004-12-07, Washington Post |
| $ | 7,400,000,000 | sale price of Chrysler to Cerberus | 2007-05-14, CNNMoney.com, "Chrysler's price: Embarrassingly low" |
| $ | 7,200,000,000 | estimated losses at Societe Generale caused by unauthorized trading by low-level trader | 2008-01-25, Wall Street Journal, "French bank rocked by rogue trader" |
| $ | 6,460,000,000 | sale price of Times-Mirror to Tribune, March 2000 | 2000-03-13, ABCNews.com |
| $ | 6,291,000,000 | total Iowa state government expenditures, FY 2008 | 2007-06-06, Report of State Auditor David Vaudt |
| $ | 5,581,170,000 | operating budget, National Science Foundation, FY 2006 | 2006-01-12, NSF |
| $ | 5,240,000,000 | operating budget, City of Chicago, 2006 | 2006-03-05, City of Chicago OBM |
| $ | 5,230,000,000 | pay for Goldman Sachs employees, first quarter 2011 | 2011-04-19, The Guardian, "Goldman Sachs smashes forecasts with $2.7bn first-quarter profit" |
| $ | 5,000,000,000 | investments by Venezuela in energy ventures outside the country under Hugo Chavez | 2006-02-17, BBC |
| $ | 4,502,000,000 | operating budget, City of Chicago, 2002 | 2003-01-10, City of Chicago OBM |
| $ | 3,000,000,000 | damage estimate after flooding in England, 2007 | 2007-07-06, Channel 4, "Flood damage tops £1.5 billion" |
| $ | 2,400,000,000 | Mark Cuban's net worth in 2009 | 2009, 2009 Forbes 400 |
| $ | 1,900,000,000 | direct government payments to Iowa farmers, 1999 | 2001, State of Iowa Comprehensive Annual Financial Report |
| $ | 1,800,000,000 | Mark Cuban's net worth in 2005 | 2005, Forbes 400 |
| $ | 1,800,000,000 | sale price, Volvo car unit (sold by Ford to Geely) in 2010 | 2010-03-28, The Economist: "Devolving Volvo" |
| $ | 1,500,000,000 | cost to build the Burj Khalifa | 2010-01-04, "Today, Burj Khalifa is the Tallest...", Fast Company |
| $ | 1,500,000,000 | net farm income in Iowa, 1999 | 2001, State of Iowa Comprehensive Annual Financial Report |
| $ | 1,400,000,000 | GE annual employee health care costs, 2002 | 2003-01-14, Forbes online |
| $ | 1,383,000,000 | surplus revenues, U.S. Mint FY2001 | 2001, United States Mint 2001 Annual Report |
| $ | 1,382,750,000 | value of all quarters produced by U.S. Mint, FY2001 | 2001, United States Mint 2001 Annual Report |
| $ | 1,300,000,000 | Mark Cuban's net worth in 2002 | 2002, Forbes 400 |
| $ | 1,144,026,000 | Clear Channel Communications net losses, 2001 | 2001, Clear Channel Communications 10-K |
| $ | 1,020,000,000 | cash infusion from Ford to Jaguar unit, 2005 | 2005-01-05, BBC News |
| $ | 925,000,000 | operating budget, Chicago Transit Authority, 2003 | 2003-01-10, CTA |
| $ | 671,900,000 | operating budget, Broadcasting Board of Governors, FY 2007 | 2006-02-06, BBG |
| $ | 612,500,000 | settlement resolving BlackBerry patent dispute | 2006-03-03, CNet |
| $ | 547,000,000 | U.S. aid package to Ghana, 2006 | 2006-08-01, VOA |
| $ | 425,000,000 | FBI computer upgrade, 2006-2009 | 2006-03-17, Washington Post |
| $ | 375,000,000 | construction cost for Luxor hotel in Las Vegas, 1993 | 2009-04, "Outrageously-designed hotels", ABC News |
| $ | 371,000,000 | estimated losses from flooding in China, June 2007 | 2007-06-12, ReliefWeb, "Rising death toll in South China floods" |
| $ | 365,000,000 | Powerball lottery jackpot, February 18, 2006 | 2006-02-22, USA Today |
| $ | 350,000,000 | pledge to aid "Palestinian political, economic, and security reforms" | 2005-02-02, State of the Union Address |
| $ | 345,800,000 | Iowa's annual receipts from federal Highway Trust Fund | 2002-07, Iowa DOT, "Federal Transportation Funding in Iowa" |
| $ | 274,700,000 | campaign funds raised by 2004 Bush Presidential campaign | 2006-03-11, Washington Post, "Money's Going to Talk in 2008" |
| $ | 253,000,000 | campaign funds raised by 2004 Kerry Presidential campaign | 2006-03-11, Washington Post, "Money's Going to Talk in 2008" |
| $ | 252,000,000 | bank heist in Baghdad, July 2007 | 2007-07-13, Stars and Stripes, "$252 million stolen in Baghdad bank robbery" |
| $ | 205,000,000 | approximate price of a Boeing 747-400, 2006 | 2006-03-29, Boeing |
| $ | 199,000,000 | stock grant to Google CEO Sundar Pichai | 2016-02-08, Bloomberg |
| $ | 140,000,000 | reported purchase price for Jackson Pollock's painting "Number 5" | 2006-11-03, The Guardian, "Mexican splashes out record $140m for Jackson Pollock's drops of genius" |
| $ | 100,000,000 | joint US-Russian program to recover weapons-grade uranium from 24 former Soviet nuclear reactors, 2004 | 2004-05-27, BBC, "US and Russia sign nuclear deal" |
| $ | 71,400,000 | auction price for Andy Warhol's "Green Car Crash" | 2007-05-17, Daily Mail, "Marilyn fetches £14m on record day for Warhol"/a> |
| $ | 70,500,000 | box-office receipts for opening weekend of "Ice Age", April 2006 | 2006-04-02, Variety |
| $ | 70,000,000 | bank robbery in Great Britain, February 21, 2006 (£40 million at exchange rate of $1.75:£1) | 2006-02-23, The Guardian |
| $ | 61,300,000 | 2001 billings, KIIS-FM Los Angeles | 2002-03-13, Radio World Online |
| $ | 53,500,000 | approximate price of a Boeing 737-600, 2006 | 2006-03-29, Boeing |
| $ | 44,030,434 | ACLU total income, 2001 | 2002-12, CBBB Charity Report |
| $ | 41,000,000 | Minnesota Public Radio operating expenses, FY2002 | 2002-01-08, MPR Press Release |
| $ | 37,484,194 | contributions and grants to ACLU, 2001 | 2002-12, CBBB Charity Report |
| $ | 22,000,000 | sale of WKIE/WKIF/WDEK trimulcast near Chicago, 2003 | 2003-01-03, Radio and Records Online |
| $ | 18,300,000 | replacement roof for Metrodome | 2011-02-11, "Dome decision: Raze the roof", Minneapolis Star-Tribune |
| $ | 14,071,702 | online contributions via Amazon.com to Red Cross tsunami disaster relief from Dec. 26, 2004 to Jan. 4, 2005 | 2005-01-04, Amazon.com |
| $ | 11,000,000 | planned elementary school, West Des Moines, Iowa | 2001-02-10, Des Moines Register |
| $ | 5,000,000 | U.S. government support for relief operations after earthquake in Indonesia | 2006-05-28, US State Department |
| $ | 3,000,000 | average price, 30-second commercial, Super Bowl 2009 | 2009-02-03, "How $3 million gets you 30 seconds", CNNMoney.com |
| $ | 2,500,000 | average price, 30-second commercial, Super Bowl 2006 | 2006-01-03, CNNMoney.com |
| $ | 2,100,000 | average price, 30-second commercial, Super Bowl 2003 | 2003-01-13, Advertising Age |
| $ | 853,000 | lottery prize won by US Senator Judd Gregg, October 2005 | 2005-10-20, CBS News |
| $ | 211,000 | median US home price, January 2006 | 2006-03-06, Bloomberg |
| $ | 120,300 | U.S. median household net worth, 2007 | 2009-02, "Changes in U.S. Family Finances from 2004 to 2007", Federal Reserve Board |
| $ | 55,000 | U.S. median household net worth, 2000 | 2003, US Census Bureau, "Net Worth and Asset Ownership of Households: 1998 and 2000" |
| $ | 52,029 | U.S. median household income, 2008 | 2009-12-02, USDA Economic Research Service |
| $ | 49,007 | Iowa median household income, 2008 | 2009-12-02, USDA Economic Research Service |
| $ | 47,300 | U.S. median household net income, 2007 | 2009-02, "Changes in U.S. Family Finances from 2004 to 2007", Federal Reserve Board |
| $ | 44,389 | U.S. median household income, 2004 | 2005, US Census Bureau, "Income, Poverty, and Heath Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2004" |
| $ | 41,994 | U.S. median household income, 1999 | 2002, USDA Economic Research Service |
| $ | 40,200 | U.S. median household net worth, 1995 | 2001-02-22, US Department of Commerce |
| $ | 39,469 | Iowa median household income, 1999 | 2002, USDA Economic Research Service |
| $ | 7,718 | per capita income tax burden, 20001 | 2003-01-16, Treasury Department, Tax FAQ |
| $ | 6,765 | expected per capita income tax burden, 2002 | 2003-01-16, Treasury Department, Tax FAQ |
| $ | 2,505 | per capita income tax burden, immediate post-WWII1 | 2003-01-16, Treasury Department, Tax FAQ |
1 inflation-adjusted to 2002 dollars