OK, So Maybe I was Wrong
Well, sort of.
In my earlier posting regarding the $787 billion stimulus package – and the nearly $5,000 per second in spending it represents when spread over 5 years – I had suggested that it was a bit ludicrous to imagine spending that huge amount in the span of 30 days.
As it turns out, it may not be such a wildly bizarre notion after all.
Following my usual routine this morning I grabbed my cup of coffee and began my leisurely scan of several internet news services. Prominent among all the headlines was one announcing President Obama’s proposed $3.55 trillion budget for 2010.
As huge numbers go that one is REALLY impressive, and, I’m afraid, all the more incomprehensible. Afterall, it equates to having 3,550 stacks of one billion dollars. To me, three thousand stacks of anything is probably a few stacks too many – but stacks of $1 billion? All, I might add, budgeted to be spent in a single year.
So I got to wondering.
Well, it turns out that while it doesn’t amount to spending anywhere near $787 billion in 30 days, it does translate into a monthly budget of $296 billion – the equivalent of just under $10 billion dollars a day.
And to think I marveled at Brewster Montgomery’s challenge of spending a scant million dollars per day – some $42,000 per hour. That’s nothing compared to the $405 million per hour spending challenge that will face Uncle Sam throughout all of 2010.
If nothing else I guess we can conclude that if spending is the road to stimulating the economy, 2010 ought to be a pretty exciting year.
Oh, and by the way, that $405 million to be spent every hour – well, it translates into a whopping $6.7 million a minute.
About $112,000 per second.
Gets me excited just thinking about it.