Powerball Jackpot Swells to $1.4 Billion, More than GDP of at Least 15 Countries

Is 1.3 billion dollars simply not enough for you?  Well, the Powerball jackpot is now a record $1.4B ($868 million cash value), and that number is expected to climb even higher.

The billion dollar jackpot has turned into more of an event rather than a simple lottery, spurring a national conversation about what one would do with the money.

Some who have family members living in other countries or in the six U.S. states that do not participate in the Powerball say that family members have asked them to purchase tickets on their behalf.

To put the jackpot amount in perspective consider that $1.4 Billion is higher than the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of at least fifteen countries and principalities that, as of this posting, include**:

• Antigua and Barbuda
• The Solomon Islands
• Guinea- Bissau
• Grenada
• Saint Kitts and Nevis
• Samoa
• Vanuatu
• Saint Vincent and The Grenadines
• The Gambia
• Comoros
• Dominica
• Tonga
• São Tomé and Príncipe
• Kiribati
• Tuvalu

Or consider that the jackpot is roughly the same as the GDP of the nations of St. Lucia and Seychelles.

(**Source: Knoema, World GDP Ranking 2015, World Data Finder (knoema.com) with data provided by the International Monetary Fund.)

The next Powerball drawing will take place on Wednesday, January 13, 2016.  That same night the drawing for the New York Lotto also takes place.  That jackpot is $9.2 million.

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