$700 billion is pennies!

From CNBC:

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. And there's been quite a jump since we last tabulated things two weeks ago.

Try $7.36 trillion dollars. (Nov 28, 2008)

And the AP is reporting:

With the economic pain likely to stretch well into 2009, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Monday he stands ready to lower interest rates yet again and to explore other rescue or revival measures. (Dec 1, 2008, By JEANNINE AVERSA and MARTIN CRUTSINGER)

And Speaker Pelosi is promising another $500 billion stimulus package by the time President-elect Obama is inaugurated.

The entire national budget is only $3 trillion, while GDP is $14 trillion.

Come to think of it, we may not experience significant wage reductions. But when inflation exceeds 10% annually, I suspect most people will consider their 2% wage increase the same as a wage reduction. Viva la Weimar!

Tim White