" The U.S. Congress has just taken another stab to approve on Friday the giant package of banking salvalmento. But how much money we are talking about? The Spiegel Online gives you an idea.
1: What can you do with $ 700 billion
How much money does this mean? Many people are confused when they see numbers with more than six zeros. The gift proposed by the Bush-Paulson and approved Friday by the U.S. Congress - to prevent bankruptcies in series as great as that of Lehman Brothers - has 11 zeros. This amount, plus save insolvent bankers, could be used in many other things. The magazine Spiegel Online prepared a list of possibilities. These include:
2: Pay the salaries of 22 million people
$ 700 billion would be sufficient to pay the average annual salary to 22 million people in the United States. According to the Department of Labor, the average payment for a week of work was $ 612 in August.
3: Establish universal health coverage
The U.S. could finally establish universal health insurance, a goal that until now has been consistently avoided by politicians. The government could fund up to six years of health insurance for each and every ciadadãos Americans.
4: Buy a communications system for emergency medical services
Washington could buy a uniform communications system for all emergency medical services in the country, which is urgently needed, more than 47 times. Estimates place the cost of such a system around U.S. $ 15 billion.
5: Construct barriers around New Orleans
The project to strengthen the barriers around New Orleans could actually be paid over a hundred times. Since Hurricane Katrina, the government spent about $ 7 billion on such efforts.
6: Buy Denmark - Twice [NR]
$ 700 billion is sufficient to finance the economies of entire countries. The sum considered by Congress is more than double the domestic product of Denmark, which in 2007 was about U.S. $ 312 billion.
7: To fund the entire national budget of Germany for more than one year
projections establish Germany's national budget for 2009 at € 288 billion, which at current exchange rates result in about $ 420 billion. With this sum of money could finance the country for 1.6 years.
8: Fighting poverty in Africa over 10 years
This amount of money could fund UN programs to combat hunger and poverty in Africa for 10 years. According to the UN secretary general, Ban Ki-Moon, the continent needs U.S. $ 72 billion a year in development aid.
9: Finance all U.S. intelligence operations during 15 years
The U.S. government could fund all 16 intelligence agencies for over 15 years. Currently the annual cost plus of them, including 100 thousand employees, communications systems, equipment and weapons recognition totals about $ 44 billion.
10: Launch Multiple "New Deals"
FDR would be green with envy. His "New Deal" of the 1930s, so far as unparalleled growth program could be funded more often. According to Wall Street Journal, the infrastructure investment program would cost about $ 250 billion in today's dollars. These investments helped build or renovate 8,000 parks, 40,000 public buildings and 71,000 schools.
11: Save the Earth (instead of banks)
Instead of helping banks, $ 700 billion could be used to save the environment. This at least is the opinion of MA Sanjayan, chief scientist of the environmental protection group The Nature Conservancy. Although data from research institutes vary considerably as to precise amount that would be required to put the environment back on a healthy, everyone agrees that $ 700 billion to give a long way.
12: Stay in Afghanistan and Iraq for over seven years
The numbers show how absurdly Washington can be expensive wars. Since the invasion of Iraq, the U.S. spent approximately $ 648 billion in war. The current levels of spending, $ 700 billion would be enough to end the war in Iraq and Afghanistan for over seven years.
13: Fly to the moon repeatedly
The amount would also be sufficient to finance four different spaceflight missions to the Moon The "Apollo" NASA, during the decade 1960, cost about $ 164 billion in today's dollars. The money could also buy seven international space stations.
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