Ask HN: What would you do with $700 Billion?

Re:Ask HN: What would you do with $700 Billion? by noodle on Thursday September 25, 2008 @12:15PM (#314953)

i'd probably take one or two billion and buy myself a giant island to live on and forever take care of my personal needs. and fly into space a few times, too.

after that, i'd take the half of the remaining and invest it in technology and fields that i'd like to see improved (i.e. space travel, science, alternative energy, etc etc)

i'd take the other half and invest/give it to more charitable devices (poverty relief & research, disease research, land preservation funds, etc etc)

basically, try and make the world a better place.

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Re:Ask HN: What would you do with $700 Billion? by yan on Thursday September 25, 2008 @12:21PM (#314967)

Taking an entire giant island for one person would make the world a better place?

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Re:Ask HN: What would you do with $700 Billion? by noodle on Thursday September 25, 2008 @12:31PM (#314986)

would you like me to say "i'd give it all up to charity"? i'd be lying if i said that, and so would anyone else.

i've always wanted to live on an island, thanks for shitting on my dreams in a hypothetical thread :*-(

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Re:Ask HN: What would you do with $700 Billion? by yan on Thursday September 25, 2008 @12:35PM (#314988)

I was just sitting on my hypothetical high horse and giving you a hard time.

Friends?

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Re:Ask HN: What would you do with $700 Billion? by noodle on Thursday September 25, 2008 @12:45PM (#315010)

sure, no hard feelings :)

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Re:Ask HN: What would you do with $700 Billion? by pchristensen on Thursday September 25, 2008 @12:27PM (#314979)

Giving $698 billion to tech research and charity probably would.

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Re:Ask HN: What would you do with $700 Billion? by iigs on Thursday September 25, 2008 @12:39PM (#314997)

Yep, sure would make the world a better place for that guy, at least!

I'd take a small amount of it ($2-3 million if i could be sure of good interest returns over time, more commensurate with inability to do same) and return the rest to the taxpayers.

Alternatively I'd use that money to buy/start a small nation with a refortified constitution and the freedoms we've lost over the last century.

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Re:Ask HN: What would you do with $700 Billion? by auntjemima on Thursday September 25, 2008 @05:58PM (#315481)

I'd take two billion too, set up the rest of the money as a trust to fund four specific areas:

1. get people in the developing world clean water, access to enough food, and healthcare

2. give people money to get themselves out of debt (with accountability)

3. lobby the US government for various tax (simplicity is needed), healthcare, and humanitarian laws

4. funding for major energy research results

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