Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Give every American household a herd of 125 Angora goats


For the price of the Iraq War, we could give every American household a herd of 125 Angora goats.  

The Angora goat is valued for its fur, called mohair, which is heavily subsidized today by the US government.  In 1993, a herd of 125 goats cost $14,600, or $22,136 in today's dollars.  As there are 112 million households in America, giving every American household a herd of 125 goats would cost $2.48 trillion, which is $520 trillion less than Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes' estimate of $3 trillion for the total cost of the Iraq War.

Image adapted under a Creative Commons License from ClifB.