What can you buy with $700 billion?by Dustin Grove (grove@wsbt.com)
The current amount of the U.S. national debt is shown on the National Debt Clock in New York, Tuesday Sept. 23, 2008. A bailout of the faltering financial industry could boost the national debt to $11 trillion, according to economists. (AP Photos/Bebeto Matthews) SOUTH BEND — With all the talk surrounding the Senate Banking Committee and attempts to bail out the failing banking system — just how much is $700 billion? Multimedia Related Content
$700 billion is really too much to put your arms around — literally. The average calculator does not have that many zeroes. What can the average American buy with that amount of money? A mathematician at the University of Notre Dame provided help. “For starters, $700 billion is $2,300 for every man woman and child in this country,” said Divia Nicolaescu. It could buy 6.6 billion barrels of oil – enough to last the country nearly a year. At South Bend’s Chocolate Café, every single American can buy 722 small vanilla lattes. With $700 billion, the federal government could also buy every U.S. citizen 780 Burger King Whoppers; the cheese would be extra. “That makes two years’ worth of Whoppers if you eat one Whopper a day,” said Nicolaescu. For dessert, $700 billion would buy every man, woman, and child 2,300 McDonald's apple pies. It would cost less than $700 billion for the federal government to provide universal health care for everyone in the U.S. currently without it, and carry out all the security recommendations made by the 9/11 Commission. If this bailout package goes through, it would push the national debt to a record $11.3 trillion. That means every man, woman, and child would owe more than $37,000. The median household income in the country last year was $50,000. Most PopularMore Good Stuff |
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