What Would You Buy With $3 Trillion?

Last week, the state-controlled Chinese Central Bank released figures indicating the country now holds over $3 trillion dollars in foreign-exchange reserves. The Economist has some interesting ideas on what the bank could buy if it were ever inclined to shop around for sexy investments, rather than squirrel money away on stodgy foreign currency.

The fictional-but-still-realistic shopping list includes:

• Almost all of this year's total projected oil output—estimated to be around $3.41 trillion • Apple, Microsoft, IBM, and Google combined—estimated aggregate market value $916 billion • Every square-acre of farmland in the U.S.—about $1.87 trillion • The U.S. Department of Defense—assets valued at around $1.9 trillion • Manhattan's total taxable real estate—worth "only" $287 billion • The fifty most valuable sports franchises in the world—a piffling $50 billion.

Who knew multi-trillionaires had so many tempting purchasing options?

You can read the full article at Economist.com.