scott wrote:
>>  Then why are you using the American billion above?
> 
> Because he doesn't realise he is using the same billions as America (as 
> have the rest of the UK for a few decades now).

More exactly, I didn't realise that that is how Wolfram Alpha would 
interpret it.

> I wonder if there are actually any English-speaking countries that use 1 
> billion = 1e12?  If you see "billion" written (in English) then you can 
> probably assume it is 1e9.

I always assumed that 1 billion = 1 million million.

The solution, of course, is to simply never use the word "billion". Then 
there can be no ambiguity. (Possibly the one and only grammar suggestion 
from MS Word that actually makes sense...)

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