Open Left

Here's that Krugman column, postedlike a week ago! (4.00 / 1)

"pretty soon, even here in Washington, it adds up to real money," says the president.

Except, you know, really it doesn't. Let's say the administration finds $100 million in efficiencies every working day for the rest of the Obama administration's first term. That's still around $80 billion, or around 2% of one year's federal spending.

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.c...

Apart from Krugman rightly putting that "large" (relative to the wages of a worker or the income of the president) sum into perspective, pls note that the president obviously SUPPORTS the view that this is "real money" (as if anyone doubts that. Governement doesn't issue counterfeit money. Yet.). At the same time, of course, 165 million isn't much money relative to a bailout that consists of several hundred BILLIONS.

No misunderstanding, sure it's right to fight against decandent boni for managers of a failed company. Their ship is sinking, and nobody should get a golder lifeboat. But the point about the administration not seeing 100 million as a significant sum is a bit farfetched, imho.


Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested, we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back, nor did we falter

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by: Gray @ Thu Apr 30, 2009 at 08:29:13 AM CDT

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There are several points concerning numbers of people and big money (4.00 / 1)

If the dozen cabinet members each found $100M the savings might indeed be relatively paltry. But if each of them passed the challenge to others the numbers would get significant pretty quickly.

Conversely those golden lifeboats did not go to many people and the total was a very small percentage of the total bailout. On the other hand I saw where if the bonuses were divided among the bank tellers rather than the CEOs that it would have paid off all their mortgages! I did not see the math but would not be surprised.

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by: Freedem @ Thu Apr 30, 2009 at 09:39:02 AM CDT

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