Sun 22 Nov, 2009
. . . so I decided to post it:
Dana Milbank in today’s WaPo writes about Sen. Landrieu’s “yes” vote on the health care bill:
“‘I am not going to be defensive,’ she declared. ‘And it’s not a $100 million fix. It’s a $300 million fix.’ It was an awkward moment (not least because her figure is 20 times the original Louisiana Purchase price).”
I’m sorry Mr. Milbank, but $300 million in 2009 dollars is not “20 times” $15 million in 1803 dollars.
$15 million based simply on inflation would make it $295 million in 2008 dollars. (So Milbank could have said that the “$300 million fix” was equivalent to what the US paid for the Louisiana Purchase adjusted for inflation.)
However even that is wrong. If we were making this purchase today it would cost more than just the value of $15 million adjusted for inflation — Napoleon was desperate; the US was not the economic powerhouse it is today, etc.
$15 million in 1803 was equivalent to $8.5 billion in 2008 in terms of nominal per capita GDP. And if you look at the so-called relative share of GDP: $15 million to the 1803 national GDP is equivalent to $449 billion in 2008.
PS: I’ve been neglecting this site. I hope to find time to post some NOLA-related stuff here soon, and perhaps a re-vamp.
