Unless you have been living under a rock, you’ve heard of the 700 billion-dollar bailout plan (politicians prefer the term “rescue plan”) of the Bush administration to keep major financial institutions from collapsing. Now most of us will agree that the situation requires some dramatic action. Yet we have different opinions on whether it is wise to spend 700 billion dollars to help out these companies.
$700 billion is an impressive amount, just to illustrate how much it really is:
- It’s about the same amount as the entire Australian economy (IMF, PPP).
- You need about 12 times Bill Gates to come up with that amount.
- The Iraq War cost almost the same so far.
- You can buy more than 2 million Rolls-Royce Phantom sedans with 700 billion bucks.
The US House of Representatives has already rejected the bailout plan. Today, the US Senate will vote on a slightly modified package. Proponents of the plan insist that this package is needed to keep the US and global economy running, opponents fear that it will reward money hungry bank executives.
What do you think? Use the money to feed the poor, a fancy war against Iran, or perhaps not spend anything?
Tags: 700 billion, credit crisis, credit crunch, US congress
October 1st, 2008 at 3:19 pm
don’t spend one damn penny on those greedy bastards!
October 2nd, 2008 at 3:02 am
Surely we have more pressing matters to spend $700billion on…. such as health care and education!