Supply the British with tea for ten thousand years

For the price of the Iraq War, we could satisfy the British thirst for tea for the next ten thousand years.  

The British lead the world in per capita tea consumption, with the average Briton consuming 2.3 kilograms of tea per year, enough to make 766 cups.  Since there are nearly 60 million people in Britain, total British tea consumption runs to 140 million kg.

The global average wholesale price of tea is $1.95 per kg (link).   So satisfying British tea demand for the next ten thousand years would cost $2.7 trillion, which is less than Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes' estimate of $3 trillion for the cost of the Iraq War.

Image used under a Creative Commons License from fisserman.