"And 2% of GDP is a substantial sum. If we scale that up to the US economy that’s around $340 billion. We’re not talking about chopped liver here. Imagine President Obama going on TV and announcing that the US is going to give $340 billion to some foreign country (this is substantially more than all US aid to all countries in any one year). Or, more pertinently, imagine a politician who doesn’t like Obama going on TV and announcing that Obama has just given $340 billion to some foreign country." Then add in that a number of those countries are currently poorer than Greece. Slovenia, Slovakia, Estonia for example. Now try to measure the political lifespans of people who say, right, we’re going to give $340 billion to people richer than we are."
