Economists have predicted that the current US economy crisis due to significant mortgage defaults started in the housing market may cost up to 700 billion dollars to prop up, not necessarily save. Rumours have circulated about whole streets of house owners and their families walking out on their main asset and leaving the banks to fit the bill. The world's economy will be affected in one way or another and some more significantly than others. Yes it's a major concern and to truly understand the amount of money involved here a comparison is needed. So, what else could 700 billion US dollars (that's a 7 with eleven zeros) be used for?
Feed the Whole of Africa's Starving Population
There are around about 290 million people classed as poor in the African Continent. An estimated 36.2% of the population in Africa are living on under $1 a day and about 25,000 African's die per day from starvation. The $700,000,000,000 could give each of Africa's poor $2414 to not only provide them with ample amounts of food, but also education, farm and crop resources, and stability. Makes you think.
Give Each US Citizen A Lump Sum
On September 30th 2008 the US population is estimated to be at 305,296,411. The 700 billion dollars could be split up to provide each person with $2293 dollars, enough to catch up with missed mortgage payments for two months. Taking into account the number of people without a mortgage including children, students, and retirees, the amount could be significantly increased.
Buy New Zealand % Times Over
The GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of New Zealand which essentially translates to the total market value of the country is $128 billion dollars. Not taking into account the value of the land of the entire country which would be very hard to estimate, then you could buy the country of New Zealand 5 times leaving enough to buy another small pacific island if you so wished.
Pay Kobe and LeBron's Entire Salary 19,000 Times
According to hoopshype.com, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James, the two most recognisable players in the NBA earn a combined $35,673,081 per year. That means you could pay those players salaries for 19,623 years. If only they lived that long.
Buy The World's Most Expensive Car 411,764 Times
The Bugatti Veyron manufactured by Volkswagon subsidiary Bugatti Automobiles, has a top speed of 253mph and is worth a cool $1.7 mill. You can buy one for each person in the country of Malta and still have some chump change to fill them all with gas.
Eat the World's Most Expensive Steak
At around $2800 for a “103” rib eye steak, you might be forgiven for thinking it was golden. It's not however; it's a Japanese Wagyu steak which was served at New York's Craftsteak restaurant. If you had $700,000,000,000 you could rollup to Craftsteak in your Bugatti Veyron and buy 250,000,000 of these cooked to your liking. Well maybe not quite this many if you have already bought the car!
Film Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End 2333 Times
To date the world's most expensive movie ever made Pirates of the Carribean: At Worlds End cost $300,000,000 to produce. If you so desired, you could film this again and again and again. Captain Jack Sparrow would have no need to continue piracy with that amount of loot and plunder.
Holiday In Space With Richard Branson
With 700 billion dollars, Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic could send an army of tourists to the International Space Station for the holidays. Costing 20 million dollars per person, Branson would have 35,000 for Christmas dinner. That's a lot of turkey.
Google $157,000,000,000, Facebook $15,000,000,000, StumbleUpon $50,000,000. With just a quick email or phone call, you could be the proud owner of all three of these popular internet sites. You would be able to Google your own worth on your own search engine, set up a Facebook group named "The 15 billion Dollar Buy Out of Facebook Appreciation Society", and give the thumbs up to both of these sites on your very own social book marking site. In fact you might as well give Bill Gates a call and buy all of his assets no questions asked.
Save the World's Economy!
That's the most important thing right? But what happens if it doesn't work?
Great compare to tangible objects that people can easily understand!
Did you get a chance to read my article "What is an economic bailout and what does it mean?" The link is actually under related articles above- if you didnt.