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How much is £350bn?

The FT (March 25th, 2009) quotes the head of the Bank of England telling the public that “We are facing very large fiscal deficits over the next two to three years”. How large, Mr King?

According to the Ernst & Young Item club, in the two years 2009-10 and 2010-11, the government will probably have to raise £350bn.

How much money is that? The FT tries to give us an idea:

In the annals of a nation that has prided itself on keeping tabs on government debt since shortly after the Glorious Revolution in 1688, the state has never needed to borrow as much money.

Impressed? Wait, there’s more:

That is more debt bequeathed to its successor than the total borrowed by successive rulers and governments of Britain between 1691 and 1997, the year Labour was elected.

oooookkkaaaaaaayyyy. That’s, erm, a lot.  Somebody working for the Adur Brewery in Sussex has taken the trouble to provide a more striking image: how long would it take, do you think, to burn this much money if you burned 5 million pounds, a stack of bills 1 yard square and 5 feet tall, every day? (Hint: If you guess 100 years, you’re wrong. It’s more!)

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