Since I've never had 20 billion dollars, it's hard for me to figure out how to lose that much money. But I'm sure our government knows how to do it. Certainly they know how to waste that much money, which is similar to losing it. I often wonder if there are any auditors for the government whose responsibility it is to track where all the money goes. Our homeowners association has an auditor, but our budget is only a few thousand dollars to begin with. I can see the scenario already: "Hey, Gordon, did you finish auditing the defense department yet?" "Oh yes, Julie, I finished that up hours ago. Somehow they lost 10 billion dollars. It's not accounted for anywhere. How about you? Have you figured out social security yet?" "No, Gordon, it's a complete mess. Looks like they are missing 10 billion dollars, too." And just like that, they are discussing losing 20 billion dollars. I hope it doesn't really work that way, but I wouldn't be surprised if it did.
I once lost a $50 bill, and was extremely upset about it for days. But I can't just raise taxes to make up for it, either.