Bailout Costs: $7 Trillion and Counting

The U.S. government is now willing to spend more than $7 trillion to help rescue the economy. That's about $23,000 for every American, and more than half of U.S. annual gross domestic product.

It's a staggering and unprecedented amount of money. The last time the government went on a spending spree to cure a crisis was in the late 1980s and 1990s during the savings and loan crisis. But the $160 billion ($237 billion in today's dollars) it spent then comes nowhere close to what's being spent now.

But it may not be as bad as it seems: A substantial portion of that $7 trillion is investment, the government hasn't spent close to the total allotment yet, and the taxpayer may come out on top in the end.

"It's a lot of money, but it's not like it's out the door, never to be seen again," said Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research. "A lot will be lost, but we're not going to lose anywhere close to $7 trillion."

read the CNN story

To put this spending in perspective, look at how much Uncle Sam has spent on other major projects and historic events in the past, such as wars, bailouts and engineering marvels. See here.

1. Hoover Dam Original Cost: $49 million

Inflation Adjusted Cost: $782 million

2. Panama Canal Original Cost: $375 million

Inflation Adjusted Cost: $7.9 billion

3. Gulf War I Original Cost: $61 billion

Inflation Adjusted Cost: $98 billion

4. Marshall Plan Original Cost: $12.7 billion

Inflation Adjusted Cost: $115.3 billion

5. Louisiana Purchase Original Cost: $15 million

Inflation Adjusted Cost: $217 billion

6. Race to the Moon Original Cost: $36.4 billion

Inflation Adjusted Cost: $237 billion

7. Savings & Loan Crisis Original Cost: $153 billion

Inflation Adjusted Cost: $256 billion

8. Korean War Original Cost: $54 billion

Inflation Adjusted Cost: $454 billion

9. The New Deal Original Cost: $32 billion (Est)

Inflation Adjusted Cost: $500 billion (Est)

10. Gulf War II / War on Terror Original Cost: $551 billion

Inflation Adjusted Cost: $597 billion

11. Vietnam War Original Cost: $111 billion

Inflation Adjusted Cost: $698 billion

12. NASA (Cumulative) Original Cost: $416.7 billion

Inflation Adjusted Cost: $851.2 billion

13. World War II Original Cost: $288 billion

Inflation Adjusted Cost: $3.6 trillion

Total: 7.63 trillion

My thoughts: The money is gone. We will never see it again. In additional taxpayers will continue to pay for this disaster in the form of inflation, higher taxes, and moral hazard.