Monitoring Policy Making at the United Nations |
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The UN Finance in Comparative Perspective
The sums spent by and owed to the UN are extremely small by comparison with other financial transactions and government spending. This table provides some benchmarks for comparison, showing that governments could easily pay their assessments if they choose to do so.
Updated October 2000
Type Amount in
$US MillionsSource 1 World Currency Trading per day (1998) $1,490,000 Bank of International Settlements 2 World Military Spending (1999) $719, 000 SIPRI (Stockholm International Peace Research Institute) 2000 3 US Government Rescue of failed "Savings & Loan" Banks $200,000 Doug Henwood: Wall Street (Verso, 1997) 4 Amount Spent on Advertising in the US (1995) $160,000 New York Times, December 5, 1995 5 NATO military expenditure on equipment (1999) $ 89,749 SIPRI (Stockholm International Peace Research Institute) 2000 6 Personal fortune of Bill Gates, Chairman of Microsoft $63,000 Est. by Forbes Magazine 2000 7 Emergency IMF Financial Bailout Fund (1996) [up by $25 billion during year] $50,000 New York Times, October 4, 1996 8 US Spending on Prisons (1996) $30,000 New York Times, September 28, 1997 9 US Intelligence Budget (FY 1997) $26,600 New York Times, October 17, 1997 10 World Arms Transfers (1999) $20,606 SIPRI (Stockholm International Peace Research Institute) 11 Bailout of Mexico After the Peso Collapse (Dec 1995) $12,500 New York Times, August 20, 1996 12 Amount US Congress Increased Military Budget Over Pentagon Request (Financial year 1997) $11,000 Congressional Record 13 French Government Bailout
of Credit Lyonnais Bank (1995)$9,300 New York Times, November 9, 1995 14 Wall St. Year-End Bonuses (1996) $8,100 New York Times, February 12, 1997 15 Estimated Amount US Gov't Spent to Promote Overseas Arms Sales (1996) $7,500 New York Times, April 22, 1997 16 Korean Government Bailout
of Hanbo Steel and Creditors (1997)$7,000 Wall Street Journal, January 30, 1997 17 German Government Subsidy to Dow Chemical for investments in E. Germany (1995) $6,700 New York Times, November 9, 1995 18 US Aid to Israel & Egypt (1997) $5,100 Reuters, September 17, 1996 19 Surplus Funds "Discovered" in US National Reconaissance Office (1996) $4,000 New York Times, September 1996 20 Total Arrears of all countries due to the UN (August 2000) $3,241 UN Spokesman's Office 21 Loss by German banks in Schneider development scandal $3,200 New York Times, January 7, 1997 22 Profits of Goldman, Sachs Investment Bank for 1996 (190 partners) $2,600 New York Times, December 18, 1996 23 Annual Budget of the NY City Police Department (2000) $2,500 British Broadcasting Commission, September 9, 2000 24 Cost of one B-2 Bomber $2,200 Ruth Sivard: World Military and Social Expenditures 1996 25 Total US Arrears due UN (August 2000) $1,875 UN Spokesman's Office 26 Total UN Regular Budget (2000) $1,333 UN Spokesman's Office 27 Total Amount of US Regular Budget Assessment Due (as at August 2000) $464 UN Spokesman's Office
More Information on UN Finance
More Tables and Charts on UN Finance
