topic Re: What would 1 Billion Dollars BUY?...... in Community Spirit

What would 1 Billion Dollars BUY?......

fourandsixpants — Tue, 02 Sep 2014 22:45:29 GMT

I know what a $1 Australian Dollar coin is, what it can buy - I may even have one in my money jar.

To put things into context.....One Billion Australian Dollars........................what could you buy?

...this is what one Billion US dollars looks like btw :

Re: What would 1 Billion Dollars BUY?......

fourandsixpants — Tue, 02 Sep 2014 22:51:34 GMT

....one thought LOL

Re: What would 1 Billion Dollars BUY?......

fourandsixpants — Tue, 02 Sep 2014 22:53:16 GMT

another idea

Re: What would 1 Billion Dollars BUY?......

fourandsixpants — Tue, 02 Sep 2014 22:56:01 GMT

would buy a lot of chocolate.....

....to share with others *cough....of course!

Re: What would 1 Billion Dollars BUY?......

fourandsixpants — Tue, 02 Sep 2014 23:04:59 GMT

In Australia (and most Western countries, apparently we use only 9 'zeros' when writing 1 billion )

so we are talking about $1,000,000,000.00

If we shared this with ALL Australians : 23-24 million people = $40.00 to $50.00 each.

Please correct me if my calculation is incorrect. Thank you

Re: What would 1 Billion Dollars BUY?......

fourandsixpants — Tue, 02 Sep 2014 23:21:15 GMT

How many billions of dollars in reserve does our government have to guarantee any savings in our bank accounts please Mr Hockey?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reserve_Bank_of_Australia

Re: What would 1 Billion Dollars BUY?......

j*oono — Tue, 02 Sep 2014 23:24:06 GMT

I thought just for a minute that this might not be political.

I would like a nice little terrace house in Freo and a suite on the MS The World and maybe a journey on the Orient Express.

Re: What would 1 Billion Dollars BUY?......

karliandjacko — Tue, 02 Sep 2014 23:28:26 GMT

2000 houses with a car in the garage.

Re: What would 1 Billion Dollars BUY?......

fourandsixpants — Tue, 02 Sep 2014 23:46:04 GMT

and if we run out of money apparently we just ask them to print some more:

Does the RBA really “print money out of thin air”?

Posted on June 29, 2011 by Sukrit Sabhlok

I’m trying to understand the mechanics of how the Reserve Bank of Australia monetizes government debt by “printing money out of thin air”. Dr. Robert Murphy has written a clear and simple explanation about the Federal Reserve, but can someone tell me if Murphy’s explanation applies to the Australian context?

The key elements of Murphy’s explanation are:

The central bank buys Treasury bonds from private dealers.
The central bank pays for these Treasuries using cheques drawn on itself (it’s here that it allegedly creates the money out of nothing).
The central bank remits interest payments on the bonds to the Treasury.
The central bank “rolls over” government debt so that the government never really has to pay back the principal.

It’s evident that the RBA buys Treasury bonds from the public, e.g. the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, predecessor of the RBA, was involved in financing the World Wars. But does the Australian central bank create the money it uses to pay for these bonds out of nothing?

Update: The answer appears to be ‘yes’. See page 223 of The Evil Princes of Martin Place -

Let’s say that the central bank decides to buy a house and that the owner of a particular house agrees to sell it for $100,000. To pay for it, the central bank writes a cheque and gives it to the seller. Where does it get the money?
It simply conjures the money ex nihilo - that’s Latin for “out of thin air and the clear blue sky”.

http://blog.libertarian.org.au/2011/06/29/printing-money-out-of-thin-air/

We've got nothing to worry about then!
Get your PLASTIC cards....Let's go shopping!

Re: What would 1 Billion Dollars BUY?......

fourandsixpants — Tue, 02 Sep 2014 23:54:53 GMT

We could buy 3,773,584 bombs? They only cost $265.....

http://www.wired.com/2011/09/ied-cost/

Biggest problem.....what colour bombs to buy?

Re: What would 1 Billion Dollars BUY?......

*elizabeths-mum* — Wed, 03 Sep 2014 03:37:15 GMT

Could you buy a mine with it or should I just stick it into superannuation?

Re: What would 1 Billion Dollars BUY?......

boris1gary — Wed, 03 Sep 2014 04:33:19 GMT

What would 1 billion dollars buy? the abbott, hockey, pyney and half of a bishop.

Re: What would 1 Billion Dollars BUY?......

cherry*135 — Wed, 03 Sep 2014 04:42:54 GMT

20 $50m homes in Sydney.

Re: What would 1 Billion Dollars BUY?......

fourandsixpants — Wed, 03 Sep 2014 05:17:48 GMT

I am mightily impressed with some of the majestic maths being calculated here by you clever people

maybe we could invest a small fortune on a racing pigeon?

e.g. $200,000 for a single racing pigeon....http://www.investopedia.com/slide-show/6-outrageous-billionaire-buys/

Re: What would 1 Billion Dollars BUY?......

fourandsixpants — Wed, 03 Sep 2014 05:19:00 GMT

or why not invest in a beautiful racehorse.....

Re: What would 1 Billion Dollars BUY?......

lyndal1838 — Wed, 03 Sep 2014 05:20:35 GMT

@paintsew007 wrote:
I know what a $1 Australian Dollar coin is, what it can buy - I may even have one in my money jar.

To put things into context.....One Billion Australian Dollars........................what could you buy?

...this is what one Billion US dollars looks like btw :

I would need to buy a bigger handbag just to carry around a day's spending money.

Re: What would 1 Billion Dollars BUY?......

fourandsixpants — Wed, 03 Sep 2014 06:01:41 GMT

answering ElizMum : Easy peasy decision IMO.....ref Could you buy a mine with it or should I just stick it into superannuation?

...proposed Mining Tax ....gone!....as it was repealed we should go with buying a GOLD mine YAY!!!

putting your $'s into Superannuation funds are like playing the lottery......however, BUYING a SuperFund and joining the 400 other fund Managers....Hmmmm! there's a thought