Apple now has more cash than the U.S. government

[RandySF]

(CNN) -- Maybe the cash-strapped U.S. government should start selling iPads.

According to the latest statement from the U.S. Treasury, the government had an operating cash balance Wednesday of $73.8 billion. That's still a lot of money, but it's less than what Steve Jobs has lying around.

Tech juggernaut Apple had a whopping $76.2 billion in cash and marketable securities at the end of June, according to its last earnings report. Unlike the U.S. government, which is scrambling to avoid defaulting on its debt, Apple takes in more money than it spends.

This symbolic feat -- the world's most highly valued tech company surpassing the fiscal strength of the world's most powerful nation -- is just the latest pinnacle for Apple, which has been on an unprecedented roll.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/innovation/07/29/apple.cash.government/index.html?eref=time_tech

[girl gone mad]

1. ok, so..

why would a government that can issue money need to store up money?

[RegieRocker]

2. You can acheive that with sweat labor from China and a

society such as ours.

[PoliticAverse]

3. The US government operates at a deficit, why would it have large amounts of cash ? n/t