$700bn — five times Pakistan’s GDP
SHOCKWAVES from the global credit crisis spread this week, threatening industry and jobs worldwide and putting pressure on the US Congress to pass a $700 billion bailout of the financial sector.
But how much is $700 billion — what can it buy? Compared to the debt of the United States, which the Treasury has asked to increase to $11.315 trillion to fund the plan, it doesn’t seem much.Here are a few of the things that can be done with $700 billion:
— The United States has spent more than $800 billion on the Iraq and Afghanistan occupations since 2001.
— Just 12 Bill Gateses could foot the bailout bill. The Microsoft founder tops Forbes US rich list with a personal fortune estimated at $57 billion.
— Collectively, the 400 richest Americans have a net worth of $1.57 trillion, or roughly twice the value of the bailout.
— $700 billion is roughly equal to the GDP of Netherlands, or five times that of Pakistan.
— It is only $100 billion short of the combined GDP of all of Africa.
— It is only $78 billion more than the US defence budget.
— It would buy around 130 of the latest, biggest aircraft carriers, which cost $5.3 billion each.
— The plan could be funded with the market capitalisations of the world’s two largest oil companies, Exxon Mobil Corp and PetroChina, which stand at $403 billion and $325 billion respectively. There would even be $28 billion in change.
____________________________________
USA 2008: The Great Depression
Food stamps are the symbol of poverty in the US. In the era of the credit crunch, a record 28 million Americans are now relying on them to survive – a sure sign the world’s richest country faces economic crisis.
We knew things were bad on Wall Street, but on Main Street it may be worse. Startling official statistics show that as a new economic recession stalks the United States, a record number of Americans will shortly be depending on food stamps just to feed themselves and their families.
Dismal projections by the Congressional Budget Office in Washington suggest that in the fiscal year starting in October, 28 million people in the US will be using government food stamps to buy essential groceries, the highest level since the food assistance programme was introduced in the 1960s.
And the next monthly job numbers, to be released this Friday, are likely to show 50,000 more jobs were lost nationwide in March, and the unemployment rate is up to perhaps 5 per cent.
SHOCKWAVES from the global credit crisis spread this week, threatening industry and jobs worldwide and putting pressure on the US Congress to pass a $700 billion bailout of the financial sector.
But how much is $700 billion — what can it buy? Compared to the debt of the United States, which the Treasury has asked to increase to $11.315 trillion to fund the plan, it doesn’t seem much.Here are a few of the things that can be done with $700 billion:
— The United States has spent more than $800 billion on the Iraq and Afghanistan occupations since 2001.
— Just 12 Bill Gateses could foot the bailout bill. The Microsoft founder tops Forbes US rich list with a personal fortune estimated at $57 billion.
— Collectively, the 400 richest Americans have a net worth of $1.57 trillion, or roughly twice the value of the bailout.
— $700 billion is roughly equal to the GDP of Netherlands, or five times that of Pakistan.
— It is only $100 billion short of the combined GDP of all of Africa.
— It is only $78 billion more than the US defence budget.
— It would buy around 130 of the latest, biggest aircraft carriers, which cost $5.3 billion each.
— The plan could be funded with the market capitalisations of the world’s two largest oil companies, Exxon Mobil Corp and PetroChina, which stand at $403 billion and $325 billion respectively. There would even be $28 billion in change.
____________________________________
USA 2008: The Great Depression
Food stamps are the symbol of poverty in the US. In the era of the credit crunch, a record 28 million Americans are now relying on them to survive – a sure sign the world’s richest country faces economic crisis.We knew things were bad on Wall Street, but on Main Street it may be worse. Startling official statistics show that as a new economic recession stalks the United States, a record number of Americans will shortly be depending on food stamps just to feed themselves and their families.
Dismal projections by the Congressional Budget Office in Washington suggest that in the fiscal year starting in October, 28 million people in the US will be using government food stamps to buy essential groceries, the highest level since the food assistance programme was introduced in the 1960s.
And the next monthly job numbers, to be released this Friday, are likely to show 50,000 more jobs were lost nationwide in March, and the unemployment rate is up to perhaps 5 per cent.
No comments:
Post a Comment