Does anyone really understand how much $700 billion really is? I don’t. I mean, I can read the stats and even calculate for myself a metric that helps me understand — $700 billion is more than NASA has spent over its entire 50-year lifetime (a total of just under $600 billion according to Wikipedia) — but that amount of money is basically impossible to comprehend. It’s like trying to really conceptualize the age of the solar system or the distance to the nearest star.
I am not a financial expert, nor do I really understand what’s going on with our economy at the moment. I know that a dollar will now only buy 0.73 Euros, while it was practically 1-to-1 when I first went to Europe in 2001, but I haven’t been to Europe lately. I know that my retirement fund has been level or falling over the past year, but I’m not really concerned since it’s going to be quite a while before I’m ready to draw from it.
I guess my point is that on the surface, the current economic upheaval doesn’t seem to affect me. I don’t own a home, my car is paid off, and I pay my credit card bill in full each month. The only debt to my name is the final $3000 of my college loans, and it’s at a very low interest rate.
I know that I’m very lucky to be in this position. I’m employed by the federal government, so my job is very stable. I get paid a good salary, especially considering that I don’t yet have any children or other family members to support. I have enough money left over each month to make significant contributions to both a non-retirement investment account and to an easily-accessible “emergency” fund that I’ve yet to need. I get decent health benefits, I rarely get sick, and everyone in my family is very healthy as well.
Yeah, I’m lucky. But there are a lot of people out there who aren’t so lucky. And those people are going to really feel the effect of our imploding economy, if they haven’t already. If a $700 billion bailout bill is what we need to start turning things around, fine. Do it. Spend it. But when it doesn’t pass the first time, and then appears poised to pass the second time — after having billions of dollars in assorted tax cuts added as “sweeteners” — I start to wonder what the hell Congress is doing.
Isn’t it time they got over the finger-pointing and name-calling — not to mention quit taking recess when they need to be leading — and actually DID SOMETHING??
Another good way to look at the cost is that it is more than the cost of the Iraq war – and I think more than Iraq + Afghanistan. In any case, Bush has been asking for ~100B a year for the war effort. This is a hell of a lot more than that.
John Stewart put it in perspective by explaining you could buy every US citizen 2,000 McDonalds apple pies. That’s a lot of pie.
But also, it’s not like the war where the money is just gone – this money is buying something that has dubious value for cheap… hopefully selling it again later. I mean, it is something like 30 million actual homes.
Well said!
Are you aware of some interesting “add -on’ to the bail out bill. Can you say earmarks? I think they all should be fired and quite a few charged at least with criminal negligence…….
Here are a couple: ARGH
Proposed rules on rum excise tax to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, the tax treatment of washing machines and “exemption from excise tax for certain wooden arrows designed for use by children” all feature in the financial rescue package being considered by the US Senate.
New Tax earmarks in Bailout bill
Film and Television Productions (Sec. 502)
Wooden Arrows designed for use by children (Sec. 503)
6 page package of earmarks for litigants in the 1989 Exxon Valdez incident, Alaska (Sec. 504)
Tax earmark “extenders” in the bailout bill.
Virgin Island and Puerto Rican Rum (Section 308)
American Samoa (Sec. 309)
Mine Rescue Teams (Sec. 310)
Mine Safety Equipment (Sec. 311)
Domestic Production Activities in Puerto Rico (Sec. 312)
Indian Tribes (Sec. 314, 315)
Railroads (Sec. 316)
Auto Racing Tracks (317)
District of Columbia (Sec. 322)
Wool Research (Sec. 325)
Great post! I found it completely unacceptable that Congress would take some time off in the middle of all of this and was pleased to see you included that in your analysis.