For the price of the Iraq War, we could buy humans a fireworks show fit for the 4th of July every night since they learned how to make fire.
According to new research from Hebrew University published in Quaternary Science Reviews, humans learned how to make fire 790,000 years ago, or 288 million days ago. According to Premier Pyrotechnics, the cost of a large 4th of July fireworks show is between $7,000 and $20,000, or $500 to $1000 per minute. Buying a $10,000 fireworks show every night since humans learned to make fire would cost $2.88 trillion, or $120 billion less than Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes' estimate of $3 trillion for the total cost of the Iraq War.
Image used under a Creative Commons License from Stuck in Customs.
