Who’s
in Charge?
You
have to see these figures. Then
try to have a happy holiday.
2008
Bailout Costs As Much As Several Large and Famous Government Projects
Combined
via
Consumerist by Ben Popken on 12/3/08
...Marshall
Plan, Louisiana Purchase, the Moonshot, S&L Crisis, Korean War, and even
The New Deal, which has been derided by some as being like the most
expensive socialist thing ever, can't hold a candle to the payouts from the
attempts to fix the current economic crisis. Take NASA. As Meg pointed out
to me over IM, there's never been any fun beach excursions provided by NASA.
The same, however, cannot be said for the current bailout, especially if
your name begins with an A, ends with a G, and there's an I in there.
Marshall
Plan: Cost: $12.7 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $115.3 billion
Louisiana
Purchase
: Cost: $15 million, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $217 billion
Race
to the Moon: Cost: $36.4 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $237 billion
S&L
Crisis: Cost: $153 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $256 billion
Korean
War: Cost: $54 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $454 billion
The
New Deal: Cost: $32 billion (Est), Inflation Adjusted Cost: $500 billion (Est)
Invasion
of
Iraq
: Cost: $551b, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $597 billion
Vietnam
War: Cost: $111 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $698 billion
NASA:
Cost: $416.7 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $851.2 billion
TOTAL:
$3,920,000,000,000 [Emphasis by E-News.]
2008
BAILOUT TOTAL AS OF NOV 2008: $4,616,000,000,000.
[Emphasis by E-News.]
...Voltage
Blog based on a BoingBoing post which was based on data crunched by Jim
Bianco of Bianco Research]
If
you answer the multiple-choice questions below and e-mail to lessonanswers@mymontebello.com
with “Lesson answers” in the subject field, you will be credited toward
a “certificate of recognition in community affairs” to be awarded in
2008 by a local nonprofit organization.
1. Why is this
comparison useful?
(a) To put the current
bailout in perspective.
(b) To show the severity
of the problem which the bailout is trying to remedy.
2. What is a key missing
ingredient?
(a) Increased oversight,
public oversight, before, during, and after, so that such a problem not
repeat and the solution not be misused.
(How is the bailout money being misused?)
(b) A public trial of
the decision-makers who led us into this crisis.
December 25, 2008