photographs: alamy, istockphoto.com, rex features
“So ‘forward’ means this
way? OK, I’m with you”
NEWS
The cost of war
Since conflict began, the war in Iraq has cost America £224bn. Last week, New Scientist calculated that the
US government could have sent 11 missions to Mars for that fee. Here’s what else they could have afforded…
SOLAR POWER
MORE SCHOOLS
FREE PETROL FOR A YEAR
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REDUCE DEPENDENCY ON GAS
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MEDICARE FOR A YEAR
At current costs, £224bn could buy three-billion solar panels, or the equivalent of
three-billion barrels of oil per year for 25 years (eight-million barrels per day).
One of America’s most expensive schools, Newton North High School, cost £76m to
build. With the war chest, 3,000 of these could be constructed.
US drivers consume 385 million gallons of petrol a day. With prices averaging
£1.30 a gallon in 2006, the £224bn could buy petrol for everyone in the US for 449 days.
David Beckham’s £500,000-a-week pay packet makes him the highest-paid footballer
in history. The US government could pay his LA Galaxy salary for the next 8,000 years.
At published rates for the next academic year, £224bn will pay for
14.5 million students to attend Harvard University for a year.
According to World Bank estimates, £27bn a year would eliminate global starvation by 2015,
while £15bn would provide a year of primary education for every child on earth.
With the federal deficit approaching $8.9trn,
the government needs every penny it can get.
Using £33.5bn would convert all America’s 136,568,083 cars to run on ethanol,
which in turn could reduce the US’s greenhouse emissions by 2,164 million tonnes.
Boston’s £7.5bn submerged 10-lane super highway is America’s most expensive public
works project. The equivalent venture could be repeated in 30 other cities nationwide.
The nation’s medical bill for next year will equal
that of the total invested in troops in Iraq.
Notebook
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