Problem with my billions

**Spacecadet** · 20 January 2009, 13:25

Originally posted by Scotchpie View Post

Can some more fanancially savy people out there help me on this as I'm getting a little confused.

When British papers like the times talk of bailling out the banks for billions of pounds I assume they mean British billions - American trillions. Or do they really mean "thousand million/milliard?"

should be
1,000,000,000 = 1 billion

**Platypus** · 20 January 2009, 13:26

Originally posted by Scotchpie View Post

Can some more fanancially savy people out there help me on this as I'm getting a little confused.

When British papers like the times talk of bailling out the banks for billions of pounds I assume they mean British billions - American trillions. Or do they really mean "thousand million/milliard?"

They mean a thousand million.

I think the "British" billion (one million million) fell out of usage many years ago.

**TimberWolf** · 20 January 2009, 13:26

No one uses old british billions any more. A billion is a thousand million.

Not least our government who have now moved on to trillions.

**TykeMerc** · 20 January 2009, 13:27

It's certainly my perception that the old British definition of Billion has fallen from use in favour of the US definition.

Billion = 1,000,000,000 (1 thousand million) in most if not all uses these days.

**Mich the Tester** · 20 January 2009, 13:28

Originally posted by Scotchpie View Post

Can some more fanancially savy people out there help me on this as I'm getting a little confused.

When British papers like the times talk of bailling out the banks for billions of pounds I assume they mean British billions - American trillions. Or do they really mean "thousand million/milliard?"

I don’t think the bankers really know and I wonder if it really matters as it'll never be paid off. Mathematicians are busy inventing new large numbers to work out how much money has really been lost. Think bazillions, quazillions, chavillions and gordonillions. All more than a googolplex, which is ten to the power of a googol (a googol is ten to the power of a hundred).

**bogeyman** · 20 January 2009, 13:29

Originally posted by Platypus View Post

They mean a thousand million.

I think the "British" billion (one million million) fell out of usage many years ago.

Given Gordon's current plight, it might yet be reintroduced to keep the number down.

**BrilloPad** · 20 January 2009, 13:32

Its good to know we can leave something to our granchildren so they will remember us.....

**d000hg** · 20 January 2009, 14:09

I've never seen anyone refer to a billion as anything except 10^9 (a thousand million) in real life. I'm sure some patriotic diehards somewhere do though, if only to be awkward.

**sasguru** · 20 January 2009, 14:11

How disappointing, I thought this was a thread about DP.

Problem with my billions