E and Pi

I have a new trick to determine the mathematical savvy of anyone who, for example, claims at a dinner party to have an exceptional grasp of mathematics. (What, this doesn’t happen to you all the time at dinner parties?)

Ahem.

Which is greater:

e to the power of pi

or

pi to the power of e

?

Someone with even just the old run-of-the-mill proper-type grasp of mathematics should be able to answer this correctly in fifteen seconds or less. (And explain his reasoning, as there is a 50% chance of guessing the right answer.)


Bonus:

OK, but this stupid little trick stumped me:

Add one line to make the equation 5 + 5 + 5 = 550 true.

Argh!!!!!!