There's a difference between being inaccurate and being wrong. Here are some example of lump sums: - Other companies, specially smaller ones (worth 15 Trad

There's a difference between being inaccurate and being wrong. Here are some example of lump sums: - Other companies, specially smaller ones (worth 15 Trader Joes or soemthing); - The Apollo program; - The cost of wars; - Etc. Except for the first one, these comparisons are inaccurate. What, Apple could pay for 10 Apollo programs how, by liquidating immediately? It can't -- not at market prices and at any rate most of its value is intangibles (and future expectations on the value of those intangibles). It's also inaccurate to compare the speeds of 100m sprinters and middle-distance runners, but at the very least it gives you insight (using olympic records or something) on how middle distance runs differ from sprinters.