US economics by the numbers: comedy or tragedy?
January 19th, 2008 | by Brook Durant |
Do you want to hear something funny? How’s this; economic stimulus package. Say it again… eco-nom-ic stim-u-lus pack-age. Told ya it was funny. Every few seconds say that to yourself as you read the rest of this article. Trust me in short order it will stop being so funny.
- 3.07
- That’s the average cost in dollars per gallon of regular unleaded gasoline that Americans pay to drive our cars. I know that’s peanuts to many people out there who pay 3 to 4 times that much.
- 16
- As of 2005 that was the average distance Americans were traveling to get to work according to an ABC News poll. The number represents one single one way trip. It does not account for 5 days a week, or return trips.
- 24.7
- Average mile per gallon rating of the American cars. Of course those are under optimal conditions assuming everything is spot-on.
- 10
- The average number of gallons of gas held per American car
- 247
- Average distance an American car can travel on a gallon of gas purchased for approximately $30.70
- 160
- Average total miles per week Americans drive to work. This number is ONLY work and does not in any way reflect how much we drive outside of work.
- 1.5
- Number of weeks, using an average of a 10 gallon tank and traveling an average of 160 miles in a week, that Americans can travel (strictly too and from work) before having to refill their tanks.
- 80
- The average cost per month in dollars that American’s pay for gas. Keep this number in mind…
Don’t forget that number, we’ll be going back to it in a bit. In the meanwhile let’s take a look at another number. This one is the average mortgage payment in the US. $1600. Don’t forget that number either. Next number 450. That’s the average cost of health insurance per month.
One last number for you to consider. 145 billion. That’s how much our “leaders” are suggesting for an economic stimulus package. It breaks down to approximately $800 per person. That, $800 is their illustrious economic stimulus plan. Now do a little math and you’ll very quickly see why this “plan” isn’t funny, it’s morbidly disgusting and insulting. I guess that means my vote goes for tragedy.
I’d like to remind everyone to please sign up for my email rss feed. Once I reach 500 subscriptions I will randomly choose a member of the 500 signups and send that person $50.00! Tell your friends, tell your family, tell everyone about their chance to win $50.00! Hell, you’t even need to link back to an article, or write an article. Just need to be one of the 500 subscribers. Contest will run until there is a winner. So tell everyone because until we reach 500 subscribers no one has any chance to get that $50.00!
Don't forget to subscribe to A Blog about Nothing's RSS feed!
Tags: america, economy, george w. bush, recession, white house
By Jadestar on Jan 19, 2008
This post made no sense. What do all those numbers have to do with the cost of beer in China? Right, that’s exactly how I feel about the post I just read.
It sounds like you just like to whine about Bush. Well that’s ok, but remember if it weren’t for him you’d be a slave to an arab.
By A Blog about Nothing on Jan 19, 2008
Jadestar - Welcome! That’s patently unfair, Jade. I like to whine about all kinds of people. For example people who come on my blog and run their mouths. I like to whine about there needing to be a license to operate a computer and a secondary one to get online. Might prevent some rather “jaded” people from getting on.
Oh and I have no problem with Bush waging a war against terror. I have a huge problem with him lying in ordered to wage a war against Iraq.
By Joe Poniatowski on Jan 28, 2008
I’ve done a bit of my own research. The government web site http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/reports/taxplan.html talks about the stimulus plan, and claims that $1600.00 pays a family’s electric bill for about 2 years. My calculations show it to come about $10.00 per month short for that. It also concludes that it would pay the average mortgage for 2 months. USA Today says the median mortgage payment is $1687, meaning this $1600.00 wouldn’t even pay *one* month’s mortgage for most people. No - I won’t refuse the money if and when it comes. But to overstate the impact it’s going to have is rather silly, if you ask me.
Joe Poniatowski’s last blog post..PC Optimization - 4 New Technical Articles
By A Blog about Nothing on Jan 30, 2008
Joe - Yup I agree. But then when it comes to the economy it’s largely a mindset. If people kept buying what they always have companies would keep manufacturing it and jobs would continue to be available. It’s when one side of the supply and demand chain decides not to do their job that an economy derails. It’s more technical than that, but you get the idea. That’s why this tax “rebate” will stabilize things for a short while. Because people will say “Oh I’ve got $X extra I better go spend it” in the meanwhile they still in most cases have at least what they’ve always had. At some point however someone told them - horde your money the economy is bad.
By Dan on Mar 7, 2008
I don’t think the stimulus package will work. A $600 check which equals about 2% of the average persons income is not going to fix the economy. Since this money is coming from thin air it will actually hurt the economy
By A Blog about Nothing on Mar 7, 2008
Dan - The stimulus package is a joke. It’s just to get people not to complain quite as loudly or as long.