How much money exists on Earth? It's a simple question with a bunch of complicated answers.


Simply, the answer dependson how you define "money". For the narrowest definition, or what's called "M0", that includes only physical money, paper bills and metal coins that constitute currency. That figure is around 5 trillion dollars. The next step up is M1, which includes all the physical money, plus quickly accessed money like that in checking accounts, and comes in at $25 trillion. M2 includes M0 and M1, but also pulls in stuff like savings accounts and CDs under $100,000. That figure is around $60 trillion. And the last figure, the $75 trillion M3, is much more abstract and not often cited in official figures. It includes institutional money market funds, long term deposits, and other stuff rich people possess that can somehow be spent but confuses the rest of us.

But, well, that's just currency. And one country's currencies can be wiped out by war or other influences. Or inflation or deflation could change the value of the money you do have. Or a whole host of other things Vsauce covers in the video. So check out the rest of the video, or just sit tight and figure out what miniscule percentage of the world's wealth you've got in your pocket. [YouTube]