$2.5 Billion, Egos, and Why Big Numbers Need Context

www.marktreichel.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-treichel/

The clash between President Trump and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has now expanded beyond interest rates — and into a $2.5 billion building renovation at the Fed.

Some see waste.
 Some see politics.
 Most people just see a number that’s hard to comprehend.

In this episode, I take a middle-ground look at what’s really going on:

• Why large government construction projects almost always cost more than planned
 • Why political egos inevitably get involved
 • And why $2.5 billion still deserves serious public context and scrutiny

Using real-world comparisons — from stacks of dollar bills reaching into space, to thousands of apartments, to centuries of spending at $1,000 an hour — we reset the conversation around scale, transparency, and accountability, without turning it into a partisan fight.

Because when budgets get this big, math matters more than megaphones.

Key Topics Covered

• Why billion-dollar numbers break our intuition
• Construction overruns: normal, but not meaningless
• How political power struggles complicate budget debates
• The opportunity cost of multi-billion-dollar projects
• Why public institutions owe the public real financial context

Who Should Listen

• Credit union and bank leaders
• Board members
• Policy and compliance professionals
• Anyone who wants less political theater and more financial reality