Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Scatter 40 mattresses outside the window of each stockholding American to cushion their fall


For the price of the Iraq War, we could scatter 40 king-sized Serta mattresses outside the window of each American who owns stocks, so their fall would be cushioned if horror over huge losses caused them to jump out. 

63% of American adults own stocks, whether directly or through some investment vehicle like a mutual fund or retirement plan.  This comes to about 142 million Americans.  A king size Serta Senna mattress costs $439 at Sam's Club.  Putting 40 of these mattresses outside each stock-owning American's window would cost $2.49 trillion, which is less than Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes' estimate of $3 trillion for the cost of the Iraq War.

Monday, September 29, 2008

Give every American a community college economics degree


For the price of the Iraq War, we could've given every American a two-year community college economics degree, so that they could see why the House Republican plan for fixing the financial crisis was nonsense.  

House Republicans proposed to deal with the financial crisis by cancelling capital gains taxes and providing insurance on mortgage-backed securities.  Economists on Wall Street and at nonpartisan think tanks regard the plan as costly and ineffective, as the firms at the center of the crisis are facing capital losses, not gains, and the volatile nature of the securities makes it impossible to insure them effectively without exposing taxpayers to massive risk.  

There are 301 million Americans.  Two years of tuition at a community college costs $4152.  So giving every American a two-year community college degree would cost $1.25 trillion, which is less than half of Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes' estimate of $3 trillion for the cost of the Iraq War.

Sunday, September 28, 2008

Buy a chocolate chip cookie every second for all Americans born on the same day as McCain


For the price of the Iraq War, we could've bought a chocolate chip cookie each second for every American who was born on the same day as John McCain.  

John McCain was born on August 29, 1936 -- according to thingsyoungerthanmccain.com, one year before the chocolate chip cookie was invented.  Extrapolating from the birth rates in 1935 and 1940, 2,413,000 Americans were born in 1936, and 6,610 on McCain's birthday.  John McCain is now 26,329 days old, and buying everyone born on his birthday a chocolate chip cookie per second would require about 15 trillion cookies.  

A 15.25 ounce container of Nabisco Chips Ahoy cookies contains about 26 cookies.  12 such packs cost $43.  At these prices, we could've bought a chocolate chip cookie each second for everyone born on the same day as John McCain for $2.07 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 javYliz.

Saturday, September 27, 2008

Hire all the educators in America to teach Sarah Palin for five years


For the price of the Iraq War, we could've hired all the educators in the United States to teach Sarah Palin for five years, so she might actually know stuff.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are 8,316,360 educators in America, from preschool teachers to professors to librarians.  These educators earn an average of $46,610 per year.  If we had hired them all to teach Sarah Palin for a five-year period beginning in 2003 instead of invading Iraq, we would've spent $1.94 trillion, which is less than Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes' estimate of $3 trillion for the cost of the Iraq War.

Friday, September 26, 2008

Make everybody in Philly a Scottish baron

For the price of the Iraq War, we could've made everybody in Philadelphia a Scottish baron.

In 2002, Sir Iain Noble offered to sell the Barony of MacDonald for one million pounds.  At current rates, one pound is worth $1.86.  Sir Iain, a merchant banker, had unwittingly acquired it as part of a land transaction 30 years before.  The Barony includes title to Knock Castle, which is currently in ruins.  

The population of Philadelphia is estimated at 1.45 million.  Buying every resident of Philadelphia a Scottish barony at Sir Iain's asking price would cost $2.70 trillion, which is less than Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes' estimate of $3 trillion for the cost of the Iraq War.

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Buy each panda an Arleigh Burke class destroyer

For the price of the Iraq War, we could've equipped each panda with an Arleigh Burke class destroyer.

Using the highest estimates, there are 3000 giant pandas in the wild, and 266 in captivity.  55 Arleigh Burke destroyers cost around $43 billion, for a unit cost of $782 million.  Equipping every giant panda with their own Arleigh Burke class destroyer would cost $2.55 trillion, which is less than Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes' estimate of $3 trillion for the cost of the Iraq War.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Hire all Kenyans as sitcom actors, so Limbaugh viewers will see that they're not Arabs

For the price of the Iraq War, we could've hired the entire population of Kenya as sitcom actors, so that Rush Limbaugh viewers would be able to see that they are not Arabs.

On the September 22 broadcast of his show, right-wing radio host Rush Limbaugh said of Barack Obama,
He's Arab. You know, he's from Africa. He's from Arab parts of Africa. ... [H]e's not African-American. The last thing that he is is African-American.
There are 38 million people in Kenya, the country from which Barack Obama's father (who is not Arab, but Luo) originated.  Less than 1% of Kenyans are Arabs, while 13% are Luo.  The average pay for an actor in the US is $62,000.  Hiring the entire population of Kenya as sitcom actors so that Americans could see them on TV and realize that they are not Arabs would cost $2.36 trillion, which is less than Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes' estimate of $3 trillion for the cost of the Iraq War.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Build a US-Mexico border fence out of marshmallows, reaching the stratosphere


For the price of the Iraq War, we could build a fence across the US-Mexico border out of large marshmallows, tall enough to reach the stratosphere.  

Many immigration opponents support building a fence across the US-Mexico border.  The border is 1969 miles, or 125 million inches long.  The stratosphere begins 6 miles, or 380,000 inches, above the earth.  Assuming that each marshmallow is one inch long and one inch in diameter, building a border fence that went up to the stratosphere would require 47.5 trillion marshmallows.  

A 16 oz bag of Marshmallows costs $2.55 and contains about 64 marshmallows.  Buying enough marshmallows for a US-Mexico border fence would cost $1.9 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 flattop341.

Monday, September 22, 2008

Buy every US adult a bottle of good tequila a week for ten years


For the price of the Iraq War, we could've bought every US adult a bottle of good tequila a week for ten years.

There are 225 million adults in the United States. Buying each of these adults a bottle of tequila a year for 10 years would add up to 117 billion bottles. 1800 Reposado, a 100% agave tequila, costs $24 per bottle at winedelight.com. At this price, we could've bought each American a weekly bottle of tequila for ten years for $2.81 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 evilibby.

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Buy the cranberry harvests of the next ten thousand years

For the price of the Iraq War, we could've bought all the cranberries produced for the next ten thousand years.  

The UN estimates that global cranberry production in 2005 came to 372,000 metric tons, worth a total value of $165 million at 2001 prices.  Adjusting for inflation, this is $204 million at 2008 prices.  Assuming a constant rate of production, buying all the cranberries in the world for the next ten thousand years would cost $2.04 trillion, which is less than Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes' estimate of $3 trillion for the cost of the Iraq War.

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Buy each US astronomer their own Space Shuttle


For the price of the Iraq War, we could've bought each professional astronomer their own Space Shuttle.  

The Bureau of Labor Statistics calculates the total number of professional astronomers in the United States at 1520.  According to NASA, the Space Shuttle Endeavour cost $1.7 billion to build. Giving each astronomer their own Space Shuttle would cost $2.58 trillion, which is less than Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes' estimate of $3 trillion for the cost of the Iraq War.

Image released to the public by Lori Losey/NASA.

Friday, September 19, 2008

Pay off half of the national debt, at the level it was when Bush entered office


For the price of the Iraq War, we could've paid off half of the national debt, at the level it was when Bush came into office.  

At the end of the Clinton Administration, the national debt was at $5.7 trillion.  The debt had actually declined by $360 billion over the last three years of the Clinton Administration, because of budget surpluses.  (At this point, the national debt is $9.65 trillion.)  Paying off half the national debt at the level it was at the end of the Clinton Administration would cost $2.85 trillion, which is less than Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes' estimate of $3 trillion for the cost of the Iraq War.