When I was 16 years old, I played soccer briefly in Europe, and one day, my team of Americans rode a charter bus across the German border, around the Bodensee and into the Alps. Dude … you think mountains are big when you read about ‘em or see ‘em in photos, but you just can’t have an appreciation for the immensity and grandeur of the Alps’ peaks until you see them yourself.
Same can be said for the total bailout money being poured into the American economy by the federal government. It’s just hard to comprehend how huge the amount is in dollars. According to economist Barry Ritholtz, the grand total in bailout/handout money is $4.62 trillion.
Now, for comparison sake, Ritholtz quotes another economist who adjusts major American projects from our past into 2008 numbers. Ritholtz comes up with the following:
• 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 billionTOTAL: $3.92 trillion
That’s right. The wars in Vietnam, Korea and Iraq; the space race; the New Deal; the Savings & Loan crisis; the plan to rebuild Europe after WWII; and the flippin’ Louisiana Purchase that gave America ownership of, you know, just about everything west of the Mississippi, combined still don’t add up to how much the feds are now spending to keep the economy going. Ritholtz said the only other event in U.S. history that’s comparable to the current bailout in terms of dollars is World War II, and the cost of America’s involvement still doesn’t match how much we’re spending in bailout money.
Feeling thankful?
You can read his post here.
