Redefining the term "Astronomical"

There are 10^11 stars in the galaxy. That used to be a huge number, but it's only a hundred billion. It's less than the national deficit! We used to call them astronomical numbers. Now we should call them economical numbers.

- Richard Feynman (Nobel Prize in Physics, 1965)

in related news:

National Debt Clock runs out of digits

The Times Square clock shows the amount of money owed by the US government. The electronic billboard hit its limit after US public debt rose above the $10 trillion mark for the first time on September 30.

As a temporary fix the dollar sign has been switched to a figure -- the '1' in $10 trillion. The clock is currently marking the US federal government's national debt at about $10.2 trillion.

It was created by the late Manhattan real estate developer Seymour Durst, who put the sign up in 1989 to call attention to what was then a $2.7 trillion debt.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article4910883.ece