Long and short scale.

Billions, trillions and so forth can be confusing. Two scales are used. A long scale, used in many english-speaking countries: 10^3 - thousand 10^6 - million 10^9 - billion 10^12 - trillion 10^15 - quadrillion 10^18 - quintillion 10^21 - sextillion (each "-illion" increases by a power of 3) And a long scale, used in most european countries: 10^3 - mille 10^6 - million 10^9 - milliard 10^12 - billion 10^15 - billiard 10^18 - trillion 10^21 - trilliard (each "-illion" increases by a power of 6 with a "-illiard" in-between) This can be confusing for an european when reading international news. For example, when the US is spending a trillion(en) dollars, it's actually spending a billion(fr), 10^12, not a trillion(fr), 10^18.