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How Much Money Will the U.S. Spend Promoting Children's Health in the Developing World?
The NYT reports on efforts to increase the appropriation for 2008 to $600 million from $356 million this year. The Bush administration is proposing $345 million. The $600 million figure would be approximately 0.02 percent of the federal budget or $2 for every person in the United States. The amount proposed by the Bush administration is equal to 0.011 percent of projected spending or $1.15 for every person in the United States.
--Dean Baker
COMMENTS (3)
One thing is missing....
Will we actually get more value for the money, or are we use the leftish assumption that more money is always better?
Is there a coherent plan for spending the money? Specific goals?
Just asking.
Posted by: save_the_rustbelt | September 7, 2007 12:44 PM
Save,
i'm sure that some of the money is wasted and some is probably reasonably well-spent, but I would not claim any expertise on the efficiency of our foreign food aid budget. However, I think it's reasonable to ask that reporters put the numbers in a way that provides information. I don't want to see any money wasted, but even if it all goes to total garbage, the fact is that it has almost no impact on the budget. We will not be able to cut the deficit or give everyone tax cuts even if we zero out this aid. It is too small to matter and readers should know that.
Posted by: Dean Baker | September 7, 2007 5:23 PM
The fall of the dollar was inevitable. It is the only way to get the trade deficit down to size. The real problem was allowing the dollar to rise to the point that it made such a painful adjutsment necessary. This was the Clinton-Rubin high dollar policy. It felt good in the short-term (except for manufacturing workers), but just like tax cuts that lead to big budget deficits, it could not be sustained.
Posted by: san | April 8, 2008 2:03 AM