I am regularly surprised at how "cheap" mega-engineering projects are compared to the things we (USA) already spend money on. Here's some examples of expensive

I am regularly surprised at how "cheap" mega-engineering projects are compared to the things we (USA) already spend money on. Here's some examples of expensive things: * USS Gerald R Ford aircraft carrier: $13.3 billion [0] * F-35 jet program (covering expected lifetimes of all aircraft through 2070): $1.5 trillion (> $150 million per aircraft) [1] * TARP funds during 2007-2010 crisis: $431 billion [2] * PPP loan forgiveness (during covid): $742 billion [3] It's very tempting to declare these other expenses an exorbitant waste of potential when mega-projects come in so much cheaper: greening Africa ($8bn), using desalination and up-gradient pumping to re-hydrate the Colorado River ($15bn)[4], the large hadron collider ($5bn - $13bn)[5], and James Webb Space Telescope ($9.7bn)[6] to name a few. Sources: [0] https://www.businessinsider.com/cost-of-navy-uss-ford-aircraft-carrier-2021-9?op=1 https://www.businessinsider.com/cost-of-navy-uss-ford-aircra... [1] https://web.archive.org/web/20191206140954/https://www.thenation.com/article/f35-fighter-jet-pentagon/ https://web.archive.org/web/20191206140954/https://www.thena... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troubled_Asset_Relief_Program https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troubled_Asset_Relief_Program [3] https://projects.propublica.org/coronavirus/bailouts/ https://projects.propublica.org/coronavirus/bailouts/ [4] https://caseyhandmer.wordpress.com/2022/11/20/we-need-more-water-than-rain-can-provide-refilling-rivers-with-desalination/ https://caseyhandmer.wordpress.com/2022/11/20/we-need-more-w... [5] https://en.as.com/latest_news/how-much-money-did-cerns-large-hadron-collider-cost-to-build-and-who-paid-for-it-n/ https://en.as.com/latest_news/how-much-money-did-cerns-large... [6] https://www.planetary.org/articles/cost-of-the-jwst https://www.planetary.org/articles/cost-of-the-jwst