Wednesday, October 1, 2008

What Would YOU Do With $7billion?

This week's Time Magazine had this to say about the recent mayhem in our money markets:

"What you could do with $700,000,000,000:

Give every person in the US $2300 or give every household $6200

Pay the income taxes of every American who makes $500,000 or less a year

Fully fund the Defense, Treasury, Education, State, Veteran's Affairs and Interior Departments next year, as well as NASA

Buy gasoline for every car in the US for 16 months

Buy every NFL, NBA, and Major League Baseball Team and build each one a new stadium - and pay players $191 million apiece for a year

Create the 17th largest economy in the world - roughly equal to that of the Netherlands"



I'm guessing $7 billion would also go a long way in ending global poverty.....

So glad our priorities are straight.




7 comments:

  1. Mmm... That's why this whole thing feels so deep down weird and off...

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  2. "Our" priorities have been off for some time now. What about the money that is being spent on the war in Iraq? Actual figures vary, but let's go with an estimate of $10 billion per month (and this doesn't include long term costs such as veterans care). The total costs of the war have been projected to 3 trillion dollars. While we're on the subject, think of all the good that money could be doing.

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  3. i guess what we did is buy people houses they couldn't afford.

    i said it on kirsten's blog.... i like to be in the know, but this economic bailout is totally over my head.

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  4. I have to agree with diane...as much as I've tried to stay in the know, this whole deal baffles me. I can't get a grasp on $7 billion, and I'm just not sure a "bail out" is really the best idea?

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  5. I'm thinking we could, you know, secure clean drinking water for the world, get ARV's to dying children in developing countries......I don't claim to be a financial expert, but this whole thing just bother me...

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  6. this is why it is so over my head. because people can't help others if they don't have their own jobs to support their own families, etc. when i hear something like "great depression" then i get scared and think something has to be done. i haven't heard any expert say that it will fix itself without intervention.

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  7. I am a big fan of MSNBC and CNN. They have done a good job of having fincancial experts from all sides speak. I have heard suggestions that it is best to let the economy fix correct itself and that any intervention will only delay the necessary correction in home values, etc. However most of the experts have been saying that some kind of help is needed. Scary thing is that no one can say for sure if this bailout/recscue will fix the economy. Tough times are surely ahead. Question is for how long and for how many.

    Jodie I agree this money could do so much good, and so much more good than the suggested building more sports stadiums, paying inflated salaries for professional athletes and filling tanks with gas. This money could do so much for humanity and the environment not just abroad, but right here at home.

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