PMM
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7 billion euros
Dec 11, 2009, 15:11
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I recently picked up a book called "The tiger that isn't"
It's about numbers and how to read them. Sometimes, a trillion can be quite a small number, while 0.1 can be enormous.
So when I read that the EU is planning to spend 7 billion euros over 3 years into a global warming fund, what does that actually mean?
Well first of all, lets divide that by 3 to get a yearly amount.
7,000,000,000 / 3 = 2,333,333,333
Two and a third billion euros a year. Is that a big number?
According to wikipedia, the population of the European Union is 499,794,855
so divide the amount being paid per year by the number of people in the european union and you get...
4.6685821392325723987961687467418
So each person in the EU is going to have to fork out 4 euros and 67 cents per year to save the world.
Is that a big number? I suspect it will be far too large for some people to countenance.
The UK, of course, is giving more than any other nation. £500 million a year according to the BBC article. So divide that £500,000,000 by the 2009 estimate of our population (61,113,205) and you get the princely sum of... £8.1815378525803056802535556758969. Per year. Almost 16p per week.
Holy Jesus fucking Christ! How can we eat? What about the Children?
etc.
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stray
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Edited Dec 11, 2009, 15:31
Re: 7 billion euros
Dec 11, 2009, 15:29
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Ha, indeed. However your analysis, while entertaining, is as meaningless as the figures themselves. Cos you don't know what it's going to being spent on, and if you did know then you would also have to generate a qualifiable metric that indicates the positive effect of what it's spent on, as in 'x' euros on 'a' thing would help in 'b' amounts against 'c' problem (which um.. would always be woolly at best).
Mind you , it is interesting that you are focussing on the metric of spend per capita, which the media also seems to be doing. I mean, yeah, its interesting to the general public as to how much is being taken from our wallets, but frankly thats not the point at all.
How this fund will be spent, thats the story to investigate. From what I can make out it will mostly be used to compensate (pay off and bribe) large carbon producers, and subsidise other energy sources. Its a way of working I s'pose.
Edit : It'll end up being corrupted and become a get rich quick scheme to some fuckers though, thats a given.
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PMM
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Re: 7 billion euros
Dec 11, 2009, 15:36
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That's really the point I'm making. Behind the headlines, they're really doing fuck all. Putting it into the context of thruppence a week or whatever is one way of doing that. Explaining that the numbers are anyway meaningless, and that this money will ultimately go to all the wrong places is another.
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stray
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Edited Dec 11, 2009, 15:41
Re: 7 billion euros
Dec 11, 2009, 15:40
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Aye I know you were mate. I wish the media would stop with the 'OMG! 8 quid a year' line of reporting (channel 4 news did this last night as well in regard projected energy price increases). It is a way of obfuscating what the cash is actually going to be spent on, well, to me it seems that way.
Understandably it would be really, really difficult to fully unpack what it will be spent on, and the benefits of it being spent that way. BUT, please try someone, anyone. Cos if that was attempted properly we'd be able to take more part in the debate about how it should be spent and the cost/benefit ratio.
Edit : various edits, cos I' fucked up, a lot.
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Stevo
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Re: 7 billion euros
Dec 12, 2009, 21:03
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good book wasn't it. think I payed 99c for mine in an Easons(WH Smith equivalent & relative)
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PMM
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Re: 7 billion euros
Dec 13, 2009, 11:53
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Mine was in the bargain bin at tesco. Populist books on statistical analysis just aren't selling this year.
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