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The Stimulus Package Exceeds the GDP of All But 14 Countries
Posted:
02/12/09
The Gross Domestic Product of a country is the market estimate of the collected value of all goods and services produced by that country in a given year. Not including the EU as a single entity, the United States had the highest in 2007 according the IMF with a GDP of $13,807,550,000,000. By this estimate, the stimulus package, valued at $789,000,000,000 represents 5.7% (thanks washerdreyer... Mrs. Callery would be so disappointed in me) of our total GDP (gulp).
It's really hard to wrap my mind around just what $789 billion is, as I've never had to deal with numbers that large in my life, especially with regards to finances. In fact, I need to keep counting 0s just to make sure I'm representing these numbers correctly. One way I tried to put this into perspective for myself was to take a look at the IMF 2007 report to see how our little 5.7% stimulus matched up against the GDP of other countries. I was hoping to list for you every country it exceeded.
Turns out, it's a lot easier to list the ones that it didn't. I'll list the ones that did below the fold.
Countries With a Higher GDP Than $789 Billion
Please note, South (and North) Korea appear to be missing from the IMF's data. Other lists I have found show South Korea as having a GDP in excess of $789 billion. I will endeavor to find out why this is left off of the list the IMF provides on its website.
UPDATE: I just had an interesting back and forth with Erick Erickson of Red State. He pointed out that if the temporary programs in the bill don't turn out to be temporary, that likely puts the cost at $3 trillion, meaning the only countries with a GDP in excess of the bill are the US, Japan, Germany, and China. Read Erick's assessment of the likelihood of job creation here.
For the 157 countries on the IMF's chart that have a GDP under $789 billion, click below the fold.
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It's really hard to wrap my mind around just what $789 billion is, as I've never had to deal with numbers that large in my life, especially with regards to finances. In fact, I need to keep counting 0s just to make sure I'm representing these numbers correctly. One way I tried to put this into perspective for myself was to take a look at the IMF 2007 report to see how our little 5.7% stimulus matched up against the GDP of other countries. I was hoping to list for you every country it exceeded.
Turns out, it's a lot easier to list the ones that it didn't. I'll list the ones that did below the fold.
Countries With a Higher GDP Than $789 Billion
| Australia |
| Mexico |
| India |
| Russia |
| Brazil |
| Canada |
| Spain |
| Italy |
| France |
| United Kingdom |
| China |
| Germany |
| Japan |
| United States |
Please note, South (and North) Korea appear to be missing from the IMF's data. Other lists I have found show South Korea as having a GDP in excess of $789 billion. I will endeavor to find out why this is left off of the list the IMF provides on its website.
UPDATE: I just had an interesting back and forth with Erick Erickson of Red State. He pointed out that if the temporary programs in the bill don't turn out to be temporary, that likely puts the cost at $3 trillion, meaning the only countries with a GDP in excess of the bill are the US, Japan, Germany, and China. Read Erick's assessment of the likelihood of job creation here.
For the 157 countries on the IMF's chart that have a GDP under $789 billion, click below the fold.
PD toolbar!
| Kiribati |
| São Tomé and Príncipe |
| Tonga |
| Dominica |
| Guinea-Bissau |
| Solomon Islands |
| Timor-Leste, Dem. Rep. of |
| Comoros |
| Samoa |
| Vanuatu |
| St. Kitts and Nevis |
| St. Vincent and the Grenadines |
| Grenada |
| Gambia, The |
| Seychelles |
| Liberia |
| Djibouti |
| St. Lucia |
| Burundi |
| Maldives |
| Guyana |
| Antigua and Barbuda |
| Bhutan |
| Belize |
| Eritrea |
| Cape Verde |
| Lesotho |
| Sierra Leone |
| Central African Republic |
| Suriname |
| Togo |
| Mauritania |
| Swaziland |
| Fiji |
| Rwanda |
| Barbados |
| Montenegro |
| Malawi |
| Tajikistan |
| Mongolia |
| Guinea |
| Niger |
| Moldova |
| Benin |
| Nicaragua |
| Papua New Guinea |
| Haiti |
| Bahamas, The |
| Burkina Faso |
| Mauritius |
| Mali |
| Chad |
| Namibia |
| Malta |
| Congo, Republic of |
| Macedonia, Former Yugoslav Republic of |
| Madagascar |
| Mozambique |
| Cambodia |
| Armenia |
| Afghanistan, Rep. of. |
| Georgia |
| Nepal |
| Congo, Democratic Republic of |
| Albania |
| Senegal |
| Jamaica |
| Gabon |
| Uganda |
| Paraguay |
| Brunei Darussalam |
| Honduras |
| Botswana |
| Equatorial Guinea |
| Bolivia |
| Myanmar |
| Ghana |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina |
| Jordan |
| Tanzania |
| Bahrain |
| Ethiopia |
| Panama |
| Côte d'Ivoire |
| Iceland |
| El Salvador |
| Cameroon |
| Trinidad and Tobago |
| Estonia |
| Cyprus |
| Uzbekistan |
| Uruguay |
| Lebanon |
| Turkmenistan |
| Costa Rica |
| Kenya |
| Azerbaijan |
| Sri Lanka |
| Guatemala |
| Tunisia |
| Lithuania |
| Syrian Arab Republic |
| Bulgaria |
| Serbia |
| Oman |
| Dominican Republic |
| Belarus |
| Ecuador |
| Slovenia |
| Sudan |
| Luxembourg |
| Croatia |
| Angola |
| Libya |
| Qatar |
| Bangladesh |
| Slovak Republic |
| Morocco |
| Kazakhstan |
| Peru |
| Egypt |
| New Zealand |
| Algeria |
| Hungary |
| Ukraine |
| Pakistan |
| Philippines |
| Singapore |
| Chile |
| Israel |
| Romania |
| Nigeria |
| Czech Republic |
| Malaysia |
| United Arab Emirates |
| Colombia |
| Hong Kong SAR |
| Portugal |
| Thailand |
| Finland |
| Argentina |
| Ireland |
| South Africa |
| Iran, Islamic Republic of |
| Denmark |
| Greece |
| Austria |
| Saudi Arabia |
| Taiwan Province of China |
| Norway |
| Poland |
| Switzerland |
| Indonesia |
| Belgium |
| Sweden |
| Turkey |
| Netherlands |
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9 comments
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Michael Kraskin
Michael Kraskin is the Executive Producer of PoliticsDaily.com. Formerly, he worked at Comedy Central... moreComments (9)
Bill
1:14PM Feb 12th 2009
If you're having difficulty wrapping your head around how much the stimulus plan costs, try thinking of it in these terms. It costs about the same amount as we've plundered in Iraq to date. Hopefully, our return on investment will be better.
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Mel Williams
1:30PM Feb 12th 2009
There were 188 members of the House and 36 Senators and approx 17 % of the population thinks the package should not be passed . Not a problem.. since this (alleged tax payers money) which none of us will ever have to pay back is included in the 11 trillion dollars of which 6 trillion was added within the last 8 years by guess who ? especially from 2001 thru 2006 with nothing to show but these deficits and an economy thats in the toilet..(How'd those Bush tax-cuts work out for ya?)....All you have to do is write your conressman those 188 and opt out of using any of that stimulus $ in your district and those 36 Senators who voted against the package are not obligated to bring any of that $ to your State ( The savings can be subtracted from the package altogether) Then they can continue to enjoy the benefits of the last 8 years
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(0) Clif Kuplen
1:32PM Feb 12th 2009
The Bush debt expansion exceeds the GDP of virtually all countries.
The only time you will see a reversal of the percentage of GDP borrowed from Carter to now was under Clinton.
Under the last president, it's estimated to go up to 70%. Under Carter without looking it up, I believe it maxed out at 38%.
If you don't raise taxes and keep expanding government, you have to borrow.
If we don't do what Roosevelt did, the alternative is Hoover.
Republicans are backing Hoover, democrats are backing a reprisal of the Roosevelt approach.
Obama's said that his future could very well hang on the success of the stabilization and jobs creation efforts. Republican legislators at this time are counting on failure except for a very few who may feel they represent all their constituents, not just the republicans.
We'll see. If jobs are created and we've made progress by 2010, republicans will lie in the bed they made in a pile of whatever they made in it.
The only time you will see a reversal of the percentage of GDP borrowed from Carter to now was under Clinton.
Under the last president, it's estimated to go up to 70%. Under Carter without looking it up, I believe it maxed out at 38%.
If you don't raise taxes and keep expanding government, you have to borrow.
If we don't do what Roosevelt did, the alternative is Hoover.
Republicans are backing Hoover, democrats are backing a reprisal of the Roosevelt approach.
Obama's said that his future could very well hang on the success of the stabilization and jobs creation efforts. Republican legislators at this time are counting on failure except for a very few who may feel they represent all their constituents, not just the republicans.
We'll see. If jobs are created and we've made progress by 2010, republicans will lie in the bed they made in a pile of whatever they made in it.
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(0) Mel Williams
1:46PM Feb 12th 2009
If there was ever any doubt as to what should not be considered as an effect fiscal policy and the party who promoted them just look back over the last 8 years with emphasis from January 2001 thru January 2007 (full control of both houses and the executive branch). The whole world along with our country will pay the price for that answer for many years to come
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(0) John
2:26PM Feb 12th 2009
It is approximately the same percentage of the GDP that we spend as a nation on healthcare each year.
John in Philadelphia
John in Philadelphia
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(0) Chitty
2:30PM Feb 12th 2009
If one didn't know that the majority of Republicans are college grads (and I include the racist, hateful, backwards "blue-dog" democrats), one would think they were illterate fools from some third world country, with no knowledge or appreciation whatsoever of economics, finance, "free" markets" or anything else associated with managing an economy. While Obama is fighting for the little guy,these wacko GOP-hers do everything they can for the rich. They are the scum of the earth and I will never, ever vote for a Repugnant-CON again.
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(0) Mel Williams
3:36PM Feb 12th 2009
This is a remarkable site . Of the 188 Members of the House and the 36 Members of the Senate and the 17 % of our country who feels there should not be a recovery package to correct the horrific damage done by 8 years of supply-side trickle-down smaller government intervention and that more tax-cuts and less spending is correct Go to this site. There you will find each State and city with shovel ready projects that will involve spending. Call your Congressman / Senator and ask them to make sure those Items are removed from the list. And that amount will be placed in escrow to pay down the National debt that accrued from 2001-2007
Here is the site. REALLY ! IT"S FOR REAL HERE"S YOUR CHANCE TO PUT YOU MONEY WHERE YOUR MOUTH IS !
http://www.stimuluswatch.org:80/project/by_state
Here is the site. REALLY ! IT"S FOR REAL HERE"S YOUR CHANCE TO PUT YOU MONEY WHERE YOUR MOUTH IS !
http://www.stimuluswatch.org:80/project/by_state
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(0) washerdreyer
4:27PM Feb 12th 2009
Sorry, I got distracted, can you explain again how a number less than one trillion is 17.5% percent of 13.8 trillion?
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(0) washerdreyer
6:38PM Feb 12th 2009
Oh, I figured it out. You divided the GDP by the size of the stimulus to find out that the GDP is 17.5 times larger than the stimulus, instead of dividing the size of the stimulus by the GDP to find out the stimulus is around 5% of GDP.
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(0) 
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