You can't watch TV or open a newspaper without reading about celebrities buying lavish houses, yachts and private jets. Or how the government are planning to cut millions here and spend billions elsewhere. How can they justify cutting funding for scientific research, health and education while allowing large corporations to avoid paying taxes? How can they justify spending billions on bank bailouts or defense. Could that money go to making the world a better place?
Professor Brian Cox, chair in particle physics at the University of Manchester and popular science broadcaster, questioned the government’s financial priorities by arguing that the bailout of the banking system had cost “more money than the UK has spent on science since Jesus”.
http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?storycode=413590
"The government should be cutting subsidies to banks, not the NHS and other essential public services. The £100bn claimed in benefits by banks could pay for the entire NHS budget," said UK Uncut supporter Sophie Healey.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/may/10/uk-uncut-targets-banks
But what do millions of pounds buy you? How about 10s, hundreds of millions or even billions?
When figures get big they can be tricky to quantify and compare so I decided to look at a few examples:
Up to £1 Million
Bugatti Veyron = £810,000
£3 Million +
Sunseeker Predator 92 = £3.3 Million
Sunseeker Predator 92 = £3.3 Million
Learjet 45 = £7.5 Million
£100 Million +
A 3 Floor Apartment Suite at 1 Hyde Park, London = £136 Million
A 3 Floor Apartment Suite at 1 Hyde Park, London = £136 Million
£500 Million +
The total cost of the worldwide program to eradicate smallpox in the 70s is estimated at $298 Million which equates to $950 Million or £590 Million adjusted to 2010 value
The total cost of the Voyager Space Program from 1972 through to 2001 (including launch vehicles and support costs) was $865 Million which is approx $1 billion by 2010 value or £620 Million
£1 Billion +
British Government spending on consultants in 2010 = £1.8 Billion
British Government spending on consultants in 2010 = £1.8 Billion
The amount of money we waste in Pay and Display machines in car parks the UK due to them not giving change = £2.4 Billion
The Human Genome Project cost $2.7 Billion in 1991, which equates to roughly $4.3 Billion in 2010 or £2.6 Billion
Estimation of the cost of Benefit Fraud on UK economy = £3.5 Billion
Tesco's Annual Profits 2010 = £3.8 Billion
£5 Billion +
Estimated value of video games company Zynga, developer of Farmville - one of the most popular games on Facebook is estimated to be between $7 and $10 Billion = £4.3 to £6.1 Billion
The CERN research facility including the Large Hadron Collider $9 billion or £5.5 billion
The US investment in the Hubble Space Telescope Program is estimated to have been $6 Billion in 1999 dollars which equates to approximately $9 Billion by today's value or about £5.5 Billion
The total for the 2012 Olympic Games and the regeneration of the East London area is £9.3 billion
BP Gulf Cleanup Fund = $20 Billion or £13.5 Billion
£20 Billion +
Value of Facebook (2011) = $50 Billion or £30.7 BillionThe UK Ministry of Defense budget for 2010/2011 = £36.9 Billion
£40 Billion +
Interest on the UK National Debt (2011) = £43 Billion
(total UK national debt is about £920 billion).
£80 Billion +
UK Education budget for 2011 = £83.6 Billion
Total cost to build the International Space Station $160 Billion or £99 Billion
£100 Billion +
UK NHS budget for 2011 = £102 Billion
UK NHS budget for 2011 = £102 Billion
The total cost of The Apollo Space Program $170bn (in 2005 dollars) which equates to approx $193 Billion in 2010 dollars or £120 Billion
2011 UN Estimate of the yearly cost to end world hunger, poverty and disease = $195bn or £121 Billion
Estimate of the cost of tax evasion, tax avoidance and unpaid debts per year (2010) = £123 Billion
Estimated cost of a manned mission to Mars is speculated to be $200 to $300 Billion or £124 to £186 Billion
Value of Apple Corporation = $302 Billion or £187 Billion
Estimated cost to repair the damage caused by the Japanese earthquake = $300 billion or £186 Billion
In summary...
The UK bank bailout was reported to have cost £850 Billion which is equivalent to:
The Voyager Space Program, The eradication of Smallpox, The mapping of the Human Genome, CERN, The Hubble Space Telescope, The 2012 Olympics, The budget for Education and NHS for a year, The International Space Station, The Apollo Program, Feeding all the starving people on the planet for a year and a manned mission to Mars.
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