ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
That number, $54 billion, is one of those unwieldy sort of unfathomable figures that can be hard to wrap your brain around. So we wanted to give a little context for what you can buy with that kind of money.
AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:
For one, you could get four new Ford-class aircraft carriers. It's also about how much the DOD and the state department requested for operations in Afghanistan and Syria this year.
SHAPIRO: Fifty-four billion is also about how much it would take to pay for universal preschool for three and four year olds according to one Columbia University professor.
CORNISH: It could also cover all the costs for the Seattle area's ambitious new plan to expand their light rail and bus system.
SHAPIRO: Or it could buy a top-of-the-line jet ski for every man woman and child in the state of Nevada.
CORNISH: If you insist on spreading the $54 billion around, you could just cut a check $461 to every household in the U.S.
SHAPIRO: It is not quite one Mark Zuckerberg, though. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
