Buy every man a Nieman Marcus suit, like the ones Norm Coleman denies receiving

For the price of the Iraq War, we could've bought every man on Earth a Nieman Marcus suit.

Minnesota Senator Norm Coleman is accused of receiving improper free gifts, including a Nieman Marcus suit, from contributor Nasser Kazeminy.  The above video shows Coleman's campaign manager, Cullen Sheehan, repeatedly refusing to answer reporters' questions about whether Coleman received the free suits.  Senators are required to disclose gifts they receive with a value over $250.  

The cheapest of the 24 suits advertised on Nieman Marcus' front suit page costs $830 (considering a suit to include only the jacket and pants).  Buying such a suit for the 3.36 billion men on earth would cost a total of $2.79 trillion, which is $210 billion less than Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes' estimate of $3 trillion for the total cost of the Iraq War.

Buy each Somali enough cement to make seven Ryozen Kannon memorials

For the price of the Iraq War, we could've bought every Somali enough cement to make seven Ryozen Kannon memorial statues.  

A ship carrying cement was recently captured by pirates off the coast of Somalia, which has a population of 10 million.  Kyoto's Ryozen Kannon memorial, constructed in honor of the World War II dead from both sides, includes a large Bodhisattva statue made of 500 tons of cement, so it would take 35 billion tons of cement to build seven statues for each Somali.  A metric ton of cement costs $77 when bought in bulk.  So buying enough cement to make seven Ryozen Kannon statues for each Somali would cost $2.70 trillion, which is less than Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes' estimate of $3 trillion for the total cost of the Iraq War.

Make all Virginians rich enough to be taxed more by Obama

For the price of the Iraq War, we could make everybody in Virginia rich enough to have a portion of their taxes increased by Barack Obama.  

Barack Obama plans to raise taxes on income over $250,000 per year.  Whether people in this bracket experience a net tax increase under his plan will depend on their overall tax situation. The population of Virginia is 7.7 million.  Giving all Virginians $250,000 to raise them to the tax bracket where they'd experience some portion of Obama's tax increases would require $1.93 trillion, which is less than Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes' estimate of $3 trillion for the total cost of the Iraq War.

Buy out Japan

For the price of the Iraq War, we could've bought every publicly traded company in Japan at yesterday's closing price.

The S&P Global Indices provide the best estimate of the total value of all the publicly traded companies in a nation. The 'Total Market Capitalization' of companies includes not only the value of all the shares of stock, but also any interest in the companies that may be controlled off the stock exchange by the government or other stakeholders. As of yesterday, the total market capitalization of the entire Japanese stock market is $2.95 trillion, which is less than Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes' estimate of $3 trillion for the cost of the Iraq War.

Provide forensic exams for every woman in the world

For the price of the Iraq War, we could provide forensic exams for each woman in the world, something that rape victims in Wasilla had to pay for with their own money during Sarah Palin's term as mayor.

In 2000, Alaska Governor Tony Knowles signed a bill making sure that rape victims wouldn't have to pay for their own forensic exams. According to the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman, this was not common practice at the time in Wasilla:

While the Alaska State Troopers and most municipal police agencies have covered the cost of exams, which cost between $300 to $1,200 apiece, the Wasilla police department does charge the victims of sexual assault for the tests.

Using the figure in the middle of the range gives a cost per forensic exam of $750.  There are 3.33 billion women on earth. At that price, all 3.33 billion women could be provided with forensic exams for $2.50 trillion, which is less than Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes' estimate of $3 trillion for the total cost of the Iraq War.

Build an undersea subway from New York to Rome

For the price of the Iraq War, we could've built a undersea subway beneath the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea from New York to Rome.

The 31.35 mile Channel Tunnel, built from Folkestone in England to Calais in France, cost 4.65 billion pounds in 1985 prices, or $18.8 billion in today's dollars. This comes to $600 million per mile. The distance from New York to Rome is 4280 miles. At the price of the Channel Tunnel, we could've built a railway underneath the Atlantic and the Mediterranean between these two cities for $2.57 trillion, which is less than Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes' estimate of $3 trillion for the total cost of the Iraq War.

Buy a mastectomy for each woman who could lose breast cancer screening coverage under McCain's health plan

For the price of the Iraq War, we could buy a mastectomy for each woman whose insurance company could move to Utah after the passage of McCain's health care plan, allowing the company to drop coverage for breast cancer screening.

John McCain's health care plan allows insurance companies to sell across state lines, obeying the regulations of the state in which they're headquartered while ignoring the regulations of the state in which their patients live. Currently, Utah is the only state that does not require breast cancer screening. By moving there, insurance companies could sell everywhere in the country and not cover breast cancer screening even if their patients' states required it.

There are 153 million women in the United States, excluding those in Utah.   A mastectomy cost $12,987 in 2001 dollars, or $16,066 in 2008 dollars. Buying a mastectomy for each of these women would cost $2.46 trillion, which is less than Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes' estimate of $3 trillion for the total cost of the Iraq War.

Buy the world's pistachio harvest for a thousand years

For the price of the Iraq War, we could've bought the world's pistachio harvest for a thousand years.

The UN estimates global pistachio production at a total of 500,000 metric tons, worth $1.98 billion in 2001 dollars, or $2.45 billion in 2008 dollars.  At that price, buying the world's pistachio harvest for the next thousand years would cost $2.45 trillion, which is less than Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes' estimate of $3 trillion for the cost of the Iraq War.

Buy each Canadian their own minor league hockey team

For the price of the Iraq War, we could've bought each Canadian their own minor league hockey team.

According to 2008 estimates, the Canadian population is 33,366,000. In 2005, the Santa Fe Roadrunners of the North American Hockey League were sold for $75,000. At these prices, buying each Canadian a minor league hockey team valued at the same price as the Roadrunners would cost $2.5 trillion, which is less than Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes' estimate of $3 trillion for the cost of the Iraq War.

Image adapted under a Creative Commons License from Lone Primate.

Buy a large American flag for every molecule in a droplet of oil

For the price of the Iraq War, we could've bought an American flag for every molecule in a droplet of oil.

At a McCain-Palin rally, Sarah Palin said,

Oil and coal...it’s a fungible commodity and they don’t flag the molecules where it’s going and where it’s not. In the sense of the Congress today they know that there are very, very hungry domestic markets that need that oil first. So that I believe that what Congress is going to do also is not to allow the export bans to such a degree that it’s Americans who get stuck holding the bag without the energy source that is produced here, pumped here...it’s got to flow into the domestic markets first.

While different varieties of petroleum consist of different combinations of compounds, one representative compound is iso-octane, which has chemical formula C8H18 and atomic mass 114. A possible mass for an oil droplet is 7 x 10-15 kg.  Iso-octane has a density of .691.  Dividing by the atomic mass, multiplying by the density, and multiplying by Avogadro's number gives us a total of 25.5 billion molecules in an oil droplet.  A 5' by 8' heavyweight American flag can be bought for $96.89.  So buying a large American flag for every molecule in an oil droplet would cost $2.47 trillion, which is less than Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes' estimate of $3 trillion for the cost of the Iraq War.

Buy a California home every 20 seconds since Greenspan promoted alternative mortgages

For the price of the Iraq War, we could buy a California home every 20 seconds since Alan Greenspan gave his speech promoting adjustable rate mortgages.  

It has been 1683 days, or approximately 2.42 million minutes since February 23, 2004, when Alan Greenspan gave a speech titled "Understanding Household Debt Obligations" to the Credit Union National Association.   In the speech, Greenspan promoted adjustable rate mortgages and called for "greater mortgage product alternatives to the traditional fixed-rate mortgage." He claimed that rising debt-to-income ratios were not signs of "increasing household financial stress."

The median price paid for a California home in August was $301,000, down from $465,000 the year before.  (Half this drop is from depreciation -- the other half is from changes in the kinds of homes selling.)  Buying a California house every 20 seconds since Greenspan's speech would cost $2.19 trillion, which is less than Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes' estimate of $3 trillion for the cost of the Iraq War.

Buy Sarah Palin all US newspapers ever printed

For the price of the Iraq War, we could've bought Sarah Palin all copies of all US newspapers ever printed.

When asked by Katie Couric which newspapers she read, Sarah Palin answered, 'all of them'.

COURIC: And when it comes to establishing your world view, I was curious, what newspapers and magazines did you regularly read before you were tapped for this — to stay informed and to understand the world?

PALIN: I’ve read most of them again with a great appreciation for the press, for the media —

COURIC: But what ones specifically? I’m curious.

PALIN: Um, all of them, any of them that have been in front of me over all these years.

COURIC: Can you name any of them?

PALIN: I have a vast variety of sources where we get our news.

Newspaper industry circulation revenue totaled about $11 billion in 2004.  Using this figure as the value of each year's newspaper circulation since the founding of the country -- probably a high estimate, as the nation and its newspaper industry were smaller in early years -- the total value of all US newspapers is $2.55 trillion, which is less than Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes' estimate of $3 trillion for the cost of the Iraq War.