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When this sort of information goes mainstream (CNBC), it's time to batten down the hatches.
Given the speed at which the federal government is throwing money at the financial crisis, the average taxpayer, never mind member of Congress, might not be faulted for losing track.
CNBC, however, has been paying very close attention and keeping a running tally of actual spending as well as the commitments involved.
Try $4.28 trillion dollars. That's $4,284,500,000,000 and more than what was spent on WW II, if adjusted for inflation, based on our computations from a variety of estimates and sources*.
Not only is it a astronomical amount of money, its' a complicated cocktail of budgeted dollars, actual spending, guarantees, loans, swaps and other market mechanisms by the Federal Reserve, the Treasury and other offices of government taken over roughly the last year, based on government data and news releases. Strictly speaking, not every cent is a direct result of what's called the financial crisis, but it is arguably related to it.
Some 68-percent of the sum falls under the Federal Reserve's umbrella, while another 16 percent is the under the Troubled Asset Relief Program, TARP, as defined under the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act, signed into law in early October.
Note: 4284.5 billion = $4.2845 trillion. Or a stack of thousand dollar bills 299 miles high. If you were on the space shuttle you'd still have 100 miles of thousand dollar bills towering above your head.
- cmartenson's blog
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Should we just stop counting now?
I think it is the matter of days before everything goes to hell
"The Great Bear Marathon'
By a guy from Facebook.
Joe likes to run. In the World Race 2: All-Stars, he stunned the world by outperforming his arch-rivals from Germany, Italy and Japan… Joe had some rough times with his Vietnamese girlfriend, but he made a comeback in the 1990 I-Rock Marathon.
Joe is confident Alpha Male. He brags his ever ‘bullish’ power whenever he gets his chance. Perhaps this is why Joe has decided to run again, despite warnings from his brothers like Peter Schiff and Ron Paul… Joe signed up for the challenge.
“You are either with me or against me. I am the champ. I’m the Alpha.” Joe said…
Everyone thought Joe was nuts.
“This race is unlike all the other races that you’ve ran, you haven’t trained your body for the last few years. You are in no condition to run! If you so wish to run, at least build your body while you still have a chance…” Brother Ron said.
Joe ignored the advice, calling him crazy, and weak.
But Joe had other motives… Joe has been spending like crazy by loaning money from his associate, Hu. Joe’s exceptional performance gave confidence to Hu that Joe can continue to win marathons and make decent money. Recently, Joe’s pocket has been getting slimmer… Joe needed money… He already has ‘I-Ran Marathon’ in mind. He needed the latest Abraham shoes and Patriot pants. Joe had to win, no matter the cost.
“The Race of Death”
When the race began, he felt something unusual. His heart was beating faster than usual. His muscles tight… Joe ran only 1/10 the way into the marathon, and Joe was falling behind... he was dehydrating. Joe's coach 'Ben' decided to shoot him up with morphine to ease the pain, rather than giving Joe the much needed water. “Water will only slow you down, this drug is certified by Cox and Paulson Inc., the safest drug makers in the world! Now, don't think, don't question, just run as I told you!” Ben said.
Joe ran for another 1/10, and the drug started to wear off...
Ben frantically injected another load of goodies into Joe.
His muscles were now breaking apart, his foot was cracking and bleeding, his eyes were getting dry...
Ben's friend Aso, Hu and Brown were concerned about Joe's conditions... warning Ben that continued drug use will knockdown Joe, even to near death. Spectators, who bet their money on Joe's win, were furious on Joe's performance. Spectators felt they were cheated, and their anger grew as minutes passed. Hu, too, was spooked. Hu, now wanted Ben to sign a document allowing Hu to sell Joe's organs in case of Joe's unfortunate death in the race.
Joe was failing...
His vision was getting dimmer.
His legs… tiring...
Each step, his foot felt like walking the field of broken glass.
Joe was longer the champion he was once was… shaken and stirred. Joe wasn't even nearing the halfway point. His steps were beginning to shake.
Ben readied yet another round of morphine.
Shocked, Joe’s brother Ron asked Ben to stop the madness…
Ben replied with a smirk, “I'm the doctor. The Game must go on…"
Couple of questions for us non americans. I assume CNBC is the Canadian National Broadcasting Corporation right?
and how much is that each for you adult americans?
Don
CNBC is a cable business news network that is owned by NBC.
So far Paulsen & gang have spent $14,016 per American, assuming a population of 305,000,000. If they would have asked me, I certainly wouldn't have given them $14k to bail out their rich buddies.
This is truly amazing... Even why they are obviously trying to make the point that this is a lot of money, they report it as "4.28 trillion dollars" when the actual figure is $4,284,500,000,000. So we've actually come to the point where four and a half BILLION DOLLARS is just a trivial rounding error unworthy of mention. That's more than Ted Turner's net worth!
Erik
Don't Steal. The Government hates Competition.
dear dr. martenson
if i were on the space shuttle i would not come back. please havemy mail forwarded.
joe
That puts into perspective the insanity of buying Treasuries as a safe haven. Think about it. The federal government is the largest debtor in the world - no contest - and they have an AAA rating. The rating companies are either delusional or too shit scared to drop the fed's bond rating.
The case for owning gold and silver gets stronger by the day. All hell is going to break loose when the bond market crashes. This stock market swoon is a wart by comparison.
This is a great read for those thinking about backwards relationship of the US dollar and our debt
http://www.voxeu.org/index.php?q=node/2568
could it be....deflation, continued consumer spender (while weaker), monetization of debt AND a strong dollar??