Larger
$308 billion = Microsoft’s valuation
$47 billion = Projected annual budget of New York City for fiscal year 2005
$46 billion = Bill Gates’s net worth
$40 billion = Department of Homeland Security’s 2005 budget
$37 billion = Estimated loss to U.K. economy from the aftereffects of drinking (sickness, lost productivity, etc.)

Smaller
$35 billion = Maximum amount of money Mohamed Suharto is estimated to have stolen from the Indonesian government
$35 billion = Amount of debt WorldCom wiped out in its bankruptcy settlement
$32 billion = GDP of Kenya
$7.8 billion = Rupert Murdoch’s net worth
$1 billion = Cost of the August 2003 blackout in NYC

The Same
• The estimated net worth of Warren Buffett
• The annual budget of Massachusetts
• Maximum amount of money estimated to be laundered annually in China
• The annual sales of Tyco
• Department of Homeland Security’s 2004 budget
• Interest on Canada’s national debt
• Estimated amount needed for reconstruction in Iraq

Related:

• Archive: “Intelligencer”
• Articles by Elizabeth Spiers
• Table of Contents: Aug 9, 2004 issue of New York | Subscribe!