Brian Gongol
All figures are in current dollars, except where noted
| Amount | Description | Source | |
| $ | 9,000,000,000,000 | federal debt ceiling after limit increase, March 16, 2006 | VOA, 3.16.2006 |
| $ | 3,000,800,000,000 | total federal, state, and local government receipts, FY2001 | Office of Management and Budget, Budget of the United States Government, FY2003 |
| $ | 2,162,204,000,000 | total federal spending, FY2004 | Consolidated Federal Funds Report, FY2004 |
| $ | 1,778,884,261,773 | total federal spending, FY2001 | Consolidated Federal Funds Report, FY2001 |
| $ | 1,200,000,000,000 | estimated cost of war in Iraq through January 2007 | New York Times, "What $1.2 Trillion Can Buy," 1.17.2007 |
| $ | 853,700,000,000 | China's foreign reserves, February 2006 | Times of London, "Chinese Foreign Reserves to Exceed $1 Trillion," 3.29.2006 |
| $ | 781,000,000,000 | increase in federal debt ceiling approved by Congress, March 16, 2006 | VOA, 3.16.2006 |
| $ | 600,000,000,000 | Bush 2003 economic stimulus plan | CNN 1.6.2003 |
| $ | 489,300,000,000 | GDP of Poland, 2005 | CIA World Factbook, 1.10.2006 |
| $ | 483,433,532,793 | Social Security expenditures in FY2001 | Consolidated Federal Funds Report, FY2001 |
| $ | 371,000,000,000 | estimated Federal budget deficit, FY 2006 | Congressional Budget Office, 3.3.2006 |
| $ | 353,900,000,000 | GE's market capitalization, 2.17.2006 | Bigcharts.com, 2.17.2006 |
| $ | 257,700,000,000 | GE's market capitalization, 1.7.2003 | Bigcharts.com, 1.7.2003 |
| $ | 255,385,395,516 | DOD expenditures, FY2001 | Consolidated Federal Funds Report, FY2001 |
| $ | 153,000,000,000 | GDP of Chile, 2000 | CIA World Factbook 2002 |
| $ | 106,000,000,000 | GDP of New Zealand, 2006 | CIA World Factbook 2007 |
| $ | 102,000,000,000 | gross state product of Iowa, 2003 | Iowa Workforce Development, 7.8.2005 |
| $ | 88,000,000,000 | direct Federal expenditures in response to Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma through March 2006 | Brookings Institution, "Federal Allocations in Response to Katrina, Rita and Wilma," 3.21.2006 |
| $ | 85,000,000,000 | Federal funding for post-Katrina rebuilding of Gulf Coast | State of the Union Address, 2006 |
| $ | 84,600,000,000 | gross state product of Iowa, 1999 | State of Iowa Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, 2001 |
| $ | 78,365,000,000 | U.S. reserve assets, 12.27.2002 | Treasury Department, 1.15.2003 |
| $ | 69,382,000,000 | average daily NYSE trading volume, January 2006 | NYSE Monthly Volume Release, January 2006 |
| $ | 67,000,000,000 | AT&T offer to buy BellSouth, March 2006 | Red Herring, 3.6.2006 |
| $ | 60,000,000,000 | G8 aid pledge for developing world announced in June 2007 | Times of London, "G8 announces $60 billion aid deal - but accused of backtracking", 2007.06.08 |
| $ | 52,608,600,000 | annual sales by state lotteries, FY 2005 | North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries, 5.9.2006 |
| $ | 42,000,000,000 | Chinese plan to build a "new socialist countryside" | BBC News, 3.5.2006 |
| $ | 40,475,000,000 | Microsoft's cash and short-term investments on-hand, 2002 | Forbes online, 1.7.2003 |
| $ | 40,000,000,000 | Google shareholder value lost in one-month drop in share prices, January to February 2006 | Christian Science Monitor, 2.17.2006 |
| $ | 40,000,000,000 | cost to upgrade GPS navigation system for US air traffic | Los Angeles Times, "Carpool lanes for airplanes?", 2007.06.11 |
| $ | 37,000,000,000 | Warren Buffett's bequest to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation | The Age, 7.5.2006 |
| $ | 37,000,000,000 | 2007 investments in Western financial companies by Mideastern and Asian sovereign funds | Financial Times, "Sovereign funds upbeat on growth of financials", 2007.11.27 |
| $ | 36,000,000,000 | Warren Buffet's net worth in 2002 | 2002 Forbes 400 |
| $ | 32,000,000,000 | stock market capitalization lost due to Enron collapse | Consumers Union, 4.15.2002 |
| $ | 30,000,000,000 | financing package offered by Federal Reserve to aid in sale of Bear Stearns to JP Morgan | "JP Morgan buys Bear in fire sale, as Fed widens credit to avert crisis," Wall Street Journal, 2008-0320 |
| $ | 23,400,000,000 | discretionary budget, US Department of Energy, FY 2006 | Office of Management and Budget, Budget of the United States Government, FY 2006 |
| $ | 20,300,000,000 | estimated budget to rebuild Iraq | Nightline, ABC News, 10.1.2003 |
| $ | 18,100,000,000 | Citigroup write-offs on bad loans in late 2007 | The Economist, "Citi's kitchen-sink moment?", 2008.01.15 |
| $ | 17,000,000,000 | Chinese order for Airbus airliners | Bloomberg, "Airbus wins $17 billion Chinese order for 160 planes", 2007.11.26 |
| $ | 15,538,519,844 | food stamps issued in FY2001 | Consolidated Federal Funds Report, FY2001 |
| $ | 12,750,000,000 | net losses at Ford Motor Co. in 2006 | "2006 was worst year ever for Ford", LA Times, 2007.01.25 |
| $ | 10,390,665,000 | Iowa state government revenues, FY 2005 | State of Iowa Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, FY 2005 |
| $ | 9,500,000,000 | revised estimate to rebuild New Orleans levees after Hurricane Katrina | Washington Post, "Levee Repair Costs Triple," 3.31.2006 |
| $ | 9,000,000,000 | Iowa state government revenues, FY 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 | Washington Post, 12.7.2004 |
| $ | 7,400,000,000 | sale price of Chrysler to Cerberus | CNNMoney.com, "Chrysler's price: Embarrassingly low," 2007.05.14 |
| $ | 7,200,000,000 | estimated losses at Societe Generale caused by unauthorized trading by low-level trader | Wall Street Journal, "French bank rocked by rogue trader," 2008.01.25 |
| $ | 6,460,000,000 | sale price of Times-Mirror to Tribune, March 2000 | ABCNews.com, 3.13.2000 |
| $ | 6,291,000,000 | total Iowa state government expenditures, FY 2008 | Report of State Auditor David Vaudt, 2007.06.06 |
| $ | 5,581,170,000 | operating budget, National Science Foundation, FY 2006 | NSF, 1.12.2006 |
| $ | 5,240,000,000 | operating budget, City of Chicago, 2006 | City of Chicago OBM, 3.5.2006 |
| $ | 5,000,000,000 | investments by Venezuela in energy ventures outside the country under Hugo Chavez | BBC, 2.17.2006 |
| $ | 4,502,000,000 | operating budget, City of Chicago, 2002 | City of Chicago OBM, 1.10.2003 |
| $ | 3,000,000,000 | damage estimate after flooding in England, 2007 | Channel 4, "Flood damage tops £1.5 billion", 2007.07.06 |
| $ | 1,900,000,000 | direct government payments to Iowa farmers, 1999 | State of Iowa Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, 2001 |
| $ | 1,800,000,000 | Mark Cuban's net worth, 2005 | 2005 Forbes 400 |
| $ | 1,500,000,000 | net farm income in Iowa, 1999 | State of Iowa Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, 2001 |
| $ | 1,400,000,000 | GE annual employee health care costs, 2002 | Forbes online, 1.14.2003 |
| $ | 1,383,000,000 | surplus revenues, U.S. Mint FY2001 | United States Mint 2001 Annual Report |
| $ | 1,382,750,000 | value of all quarters produced by U.S. Mint, FY2001 | United States Mint 2001 Annual Report |
| $ | 1,300,000,000 | Mark Cuban's net worth, 2002 | 2002 Forbes 400 |
| $ | 1,144,026,000 | Clear Channel Communications net losses, 2001 | Clear Channel Communications 10-K, 2001 |
| $ | 1,020,000,000 | cash infusion from Ford to Jaguar unit, 2005 | BBC News, 1.5.2005 |
| $ | 925,000,000 | operating budget, Chicago Transit Authority, 2003 | CTA, 1.10.2003 |
| $ | 671,900,000 | operating budget, Broadcasting Board of Governors, FY 2007 | BBG, 2.6.2006 |
| $ | 612,500,000 | settlement resolving BlackBerry patent dispute | CNet, 3.3.2006 |
| $ | 547,000,000 | US aid package to Ghana, 2006 | VOA, 8.1.2006 |
| $ | 425,000,000 | FBI computer upgrade, 2006-2009 | Washington Post, 3.17.2006 |
| $ | 371,000,000 | estimated losses from flooding in China, June 2007 | ReliefWeb, "Rising death toll in South China floods", 2007.06.12 |
| $ | 365,000,000 | Powerball lottery jackpot, February 18, 2006 | USA Today, 2.22.2006 |
| $ | 350,000,000 | pledge to aid "Palestinian political, economic, and security reforms" | State of the Union Address, 2.2.2005 |
| $ | 345,800,000 | Iowa's annual receipts from federal Highway Trust Fund | Iowa DOT, "Federal Transportation Funding in Iowa," July 2002 |
| $ | 274,700,000 | campaign funds raised by 2004 Bush Presidential campaign | Washington Post, "Money's Going to Talk in 2008," 3.11.2006 |
| $ | 253,000,000 | campaign funds raised by 2004 Kerry Presidential campaign | Washington Post, "Money's Going to Talk in 2008," 3.11.2006 |
| $ | 252,000,000 | bank heist in Baghdad, July 2007 | Stars and Stripes, "$252 million stolen in Baghdad bank robbery," 2007.07.13 |
| $ | 205,000,000 | approximate price of a Boeing 747-400, 2006 | Boeing, 3.29.2006 |
| $ | 140,000,000 | reported purchase price for Jackson Pollock's painting "Number 5" | The Guardian, "Mexican splashes out record $140m for Jackson Pollock's drops of genius", 2006.11.03 |
| $ | 100,000,000 | joint US-Russian program to recover weapons-grade uranium from 24 former Soviet nuclear reactors, 2004 | BBC, "US and Russia sign nuclear deal," May 27, 2004 |
| $ | 71,400,000 | auction price for Andy Warhol's "Green Car Crash" | Daily Mail, "Marilyn fetches £14m on record day for Warhol," 2007.05.17 |
| $ | 70,500,000 | box-office receipts for opening weekend of "Ice Age", April 2006 | Variety, 4.2.2006 |
| $ | 70,000,000 | bank robbery in Great Britain, February 21, 2006 (£40 million at exchange rate of $1.75:£1) | The Guardian, 2.23.2006 |
| $ | 61,300,000 | 2001 billings, KIIS-FM Los Angeles | Radio World Online, 3.13.2002 |
| $ | 53,500,000 | approximate price of a Boeing 737-600, 2006 | Boeing, 3.29.2006 |
| $ | 44,030,434 | ACLU total income, 2001 | CBBB Charity Report, December 2002 |
| $ | 41,000,000 | Minnesota Public Radio operating expenses, FY2002 | MPR Press Release, 1.8.2002 |
| $ | 37,484,194 | contributions and grants to ACLU, 2001 | CBBB Charity Report, December 2002 |
| $ | 22,000,000 | sale of WKIE/WKIF/WDEK trimulcast near Chicago, 2003 | Radio and Records Online, 1.3.2003 |
| $ | 14,071,702 | online contributions via Amazon.com to Red Cross tsunami disaster relief from Dec. 26, 2004 to Jan. 4, 2005 | Amazon.com, 1.4.2005 |
| $ | 11,000,000 | planned elementary school, West Des Moines, Iowa | Des Moines Register, 2.10.2001 |
| $ | 5,000,000 | US government support for relief operations after earthquake in Indonesia | US State Department, 5.28.2006 |
| $ | 2,500,000 | average price, 30-second commercial, Super Bowl 2006 | CNNMoney.com, 1.3.2006 |
| $ | 2,100,000 | average price, 30-second commercial, Super Bowl 2003 | Advertising Age, 1.13.2003 |
| $ | 853,000 | lottery prize won by US Senator Judd Gregg, October 2005 | CBS News, 10.20.2005 |
| $ | 211,000 | median US home price, January 2006 | Bloomberg, 3.6.2006 |
| $ | 55,000 | U.S. median household net worth, 2000 | US Census Bureau, "Net Worth and Asset Ownership of Households: 1998 and 2000" |
| $ | 44,389 | U.S. median household income, 2004 | US Census Bureau, "Income, Poverty, and Heath Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2004" |
| $ | 41,994 | U.S. median household income, 1999 | USDA Economic Research Service |
| $ | 40,200 | U.S. median household net worth, 1995 | US Department of Commerce, 2.22.2001 |
| $ | 39,469 | Iowa median household income, 1999 | USDA Economic Research Service |
| $ | 7,7181 | per capita income tax burden, 2000 | Treasury Department, Tax FAQ, 1.16.2003 |
| $ | 6,765 | expected per capita income tax burden, 2002 | Treasury Department, Tax FAQ, 1.16.2003 |
| $ | 2,5051 | per capita income tax burden, immediate post-WWII | Treasury Department, Tax FAQ, 1.16.2003 |
1 inflation-adjusted to 2002 dollars