Considering that the United States Treasury is firing up the money printing presses again for yet another round of quantitative easing, let's take a step back and consider the cost of all this.
We're not talking the pros and cons of inflation and politics, but rather how much will be spent on simply the ink to accomplish this.
Here are some fun facts to chew on:
We're greening up the equivalent of over 78 football fields (plus end zones) in new currency a day.
And for just this round of quantitative easing, it will take over 4.
5 years to reach the point when someone can say "stop the presses!" Now, let's make some assumptions about a standard ink cartridge:
51 million 8.
5"x11" pages of bills daily, with ink being consumed at the rate of approximately 195,425.
78 cartridges per day (75% ink coverage on a printed bill gives a 33.
33 page yield per cartridge).
At 2.
54 million gallons, the volume of ink necessary to complete this project is enough to overflow the dome of the U.
S.
Capitol Building! At about $35 a cartridge, that's a whopping $11.
38 Billion all-in ink cost.
Of course, we must realize that ink for printing money must cost much, much more than this to deter counterfeiting.
As such, our final cost estimate is likely rather - pardon the pun - conservative! Now for the savings.
Having noted that name brands cost overwhelmingly more than generics, let's look to ink refill costs to generate our comparison price point.
Recall that U.
S.
bills are no longer monochrome, having incorporated some nice contrasting purples, oranges, and other stealthy ink combinations.
Thus, we must look to the cost of a color ink refill, which is about $15 at most office supply stores.
At $20 savings per cartridge, that's $320 in savings per gallon, and a grand total of $6.
50 billion in savings.
Enough to give new meaning to "truckload" savings when you consider Geekology's estimate that 16 standard-size pallets would be required to stack each $1 billion in $100 notes.
And surely enough ink savings to fund the education of the new crop of economists we'll need to figure our way out of current fiscal policy!
We're not talking the pros and cons of inflation and politics, but rather how much will be spent on simply the ink to accomplish this.
Here are some fun facts to chew on:
- The November 2010 round of quantitative easing will add approximately $900 billion in new money to the economy (CNN Money)
- The average amount of currency printed daily in the U.
S.
is 38 million new notes - with a total value of $541 million (Fact Monster) - The greenback in any denomination is 2.
61" tall by 6.
14" wide (Fact Monster)
We're greening up the equivalent of over 78 football fields (plus end zones) in new currency a day.
And for just this round of quantitative easing, it will take over 4.
5 years to reach the point when someone can say "stop the presses!" Now, let's make some assumptions about a standard ink cartridge:
- Volume is approximately 1/16 of a pint (Wikipedia)
- Yield is approximately 500 printed 8.
5"x11" pages at 5% ink coverage (numerous ink sites)
- 5.
83 bills would fit on a standard 8.
5" x 11" page (double-sided of course) - A fair estimate for ink coverage on a bill would be about 75%
51 million 8.
5"x11" pages of bills daily, with ink being consumed at the rate of approximately 195,425.
78 cartridges per day (75% ink coverage on a printed bill gives a 33.
33 page yield per cartridge).
At 2.
54 million gallons, the volume of ink necessary to complete this project is enough to overflow the dome of the U.
S.
Capitol Building! At about $35 a cartridge, that's a whopping $11.
38 Billion all-in ink cost.
Of course, we must realize that ink for printing money must cost much, much more than this to deter counterfeiting.
As such, our final cost estimate is likely rather - pardon the pun - conservative! Now for the savings.
Having noted that name brands cost overwhelmingly more than generics, let's look to ink refill costs to generate our comparison price point.
Recall that U.
S.
bills are no longer monochrome, having incorporated some nice contrasting purples, oranges, and other stealthy ink combinations.
Thus, we must look to the cost of a color ink refill, which is about $15 at most office supply stores.
At $20 savings per cartridge, that's $320 in savings per gallon, and a grand total of $6.
50 billion in savings.
Enough to give new meaning to "truckload" savings when you consider Geekology's estimate that 16 standard-size pallets would be required to stack each $1 billion in $100 notes.
And surely enough ink savings to fund the education of the new crop of economists we'll need to figure our way out of current fiscal policy!
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