Bloomberg has rejigged its estimated total of potential US support to the markets to around $8,500bn from $7,700bn, reflecting the most recent Fed proposals to save the world.
A ginormous sum, by any measure, and one which Barry Ritholtz has helpfully put into perspective.
By Ritholtz’s estimate, the total actual cost of the various bailout programs (including Citi, but not including today’s announcements) exceeds $4,600bn dollars, making it the “largest outlay in American history.”
So large, that according to inflation adjusted numbers provided by Jim Bianco of Bianco Research, “the bailout has cost more than all of these big budget government expenditures – combined”:
• Marshall Plan: Cost: $12.7 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $115.3 billion
• Louisiana Purchase: Cost: $15 million, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $217 billion
• Race to the Moon: Cost: $36.4 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $237 billion
• S&L Crisis: Cost: $153 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $256 billion
• Korean War: Cost: $54 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $454 billion
• The New Deal: Cost: $32 billion (Est), Inflation Adjusted Cost: $500 billion (Est)
• Invasion of Iraq: Cost: $551b, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $597 billion
• Vietnam War: Cost: $111 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $698 billion
• NASA: Cost: $416.7 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $851.2 billion
TOTAL: $3.92 trillion ($3,920bn)
Further, he notes:
The only single American event in history that even comes close to matching the cost of the credit crisis is World War II: Original Cost: $288 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $3.6 trillion
Ritholtz estimates that by the end of 2010, the final bill may scale up to as much as $10,000bn.Ouf.
Related links:
A Billion Here, A Trillion There: Calculating the Cost of Wall Street’s Rescue - Knowledge @ Wharton
