16 March 2006 Blog Home : March 2006 : Permalink
We come up with a grand total of $7.39 trillion - well in excess of the $6.70 trillion that actually exists. That's right, when you allow for the basic costs that we've all got to put up with, and the inevitable losses to criminals like Ken Lay and Ted Bundy, and then pile on the items that meddling little turds hate to see us enjoying, it all costs more money than there is.
I have absolutely no doubt that similar analysis would prove much the same in the UK or Europe. I suggest you read the whole thing but for fun I have itemized the various expenses they list.Money Supply and Government | Amount |
---|---|
Money supply (using the M-2 metric, which includes M-1, plus savings account balances and mutual fund deposits): | $6740bn |
federal budget : | $2200bn |
other government: state, law enforcement (with SWAG adjustment for overlap)...: | $1760bn |
Money left for good life: | $2780bn |
Costs of good life | Amount |
---|---|
Tobacco (health costs and lost productivity): | $167bn |
Second hand smoke : | $10bn |
Alcohol (health costs and lost productivity): | $185bn |
Fast foods: | |
lost productivity: | $13bn |
additional health costs: | $102bn |
Meat consumption, (rejecting this $1 trillion in medical expenses claim): | $61.4bn |
Gambling (bankruptcies, suicides, thefts, and frauds perpetrated by the newly-destitute): | $54bn |
Drugs (NIH estimate). | |
cost to society : | $97.7bn |
cost of the drugs: | $57.3bn. |
Drug related heath costs: | $383.2bn |
Cybercrime: | $400bn |
Insurance fraud: | $96.8bn |
Retail theft: | $31bn |
Email spam (in lost productivity): | $17bn |
Unauthorized web surfing : | $178bn |
Illegal immigration: | $10bn |
The NCAA Tournament (in lost productivity): | $3.8bn |
The Super Bowl (in lost productivity): | $821.4m |
The World Series (in lost productivity): | $465m |
Total | 1868.3bn |