Michael
Apr 22nd 2009, 09:59 AM
Has anybody seen this latest viral email going around?
It suggests that to solve the recession/financial crisis in the USA, all you have to do is give $1 million to everyone over the age of 50 and impose the condition that they quit their jobs, buy a new house and buy a new car.
Supposedly, this solves unemployment, the housing crisis and the auto industry all in one go.
I got this email forwarded to me (I can't imagine why anyone would send stuff like this to me since I always check it out and that usually makes the sender look like an idiot for sending it to me).
And today on the way to work, the morning DJ on my regular radio station was talking about this email saying this sounded like a "really great idea" - neither he nor is fellow 'morning show hosts' could grasp the concept of why it would be impossible - they just babbled on like idiots about how 'cool' that would be and how come the 'government' can't figure out this kind of simple solution.
Anyways, this little 'solution' demonstrates mind-bogglingly ignorance of both mathematics and current affairs.
$1 million to each of 40 million people equals $40 trillion which is roughly three times larger than the entire GDP of the United States. It would require the US Government to incur a 4000% increase in the deficit (which would represent a rate of 300% of GDP), a 500% increase in the size of the gross national debt and would suck up approximately 75% of the combined GDP of the entire planet to finance it. :eek:
One might as well give $100,000 to every man/woman/child in America instead which would cost you $10 trillion less - but still more than double the whole GDP of the USA in 2008 and only require half the combined GDP of the entire planet to finance it. :rolleyes:
I can well imagine that some idiot might come up with this silliness. What amazes me is that apparently lots of people are incapable of seeing how absurd and nonsensical it is. :shrug:
It suggests that to solve the recession/financial crisis in the USA, all you have to do is give $1 million to everyone over the age of 50 and impose the condition that they quit their jobs, buy a new house and buy a new car.
Supposedly, this solves unemployment, the housing crisis and the auto industry all in one go.
I got this email forwarded to me (I can't imagine why anyone would send stuff like this to me since I always check it out and that usually makes the sender look like an idiot for sending it to me).
And today on the way to work, the morning DJ on my regular radio station was talking about this email saying this sounded like a "really great idea" - neither he nor is fellow 'morning show hosts' could grasp the concept of why it would be impossible - they just babbled on like idiots about how 'cool' that would be and how come the 'government' can't figure out this kind of simple solution.
Anyways, this little 'solution' demonstrates mind-bogglingly ignorance of both mathematics and current affairs.
$1 million to each of 40 million people equals $40 trillion which is roughly three times larger than the entire GDP of the United States. It would require the US Government to incur a 4000% increase in the deficit (which would represent a rate of 300% of GDP), a 500% increase in the size of the gross national debt and would suck up approximately 75% of the combined GDP of the entire planet to finance it. :eek:
One might as well give $100,000 to every man/woman/child in America instead which would cost you $10 trillion less - but still more than double the whole GDP of the USA in 2008 and only require half the combined GDP of the entire planet to finance it. :rolleyes:
I can well imagine that some idiot might come up with this silliness. What amazes me is that apparently lots of people are incapable of seeing how absurd and nonsensical it is. :shrug: