Isn't the GDP 11.75 trillion (t$/a)? Those estimates may even be conservative, Pat. Imagine how much trade is missed out on and how many American industries must maintain dual lines. Who knows what the potential industrial output could be if there was greter compatibility, something that can really only happen with a completed metrication.
On Sat, 18 Nov 2006 19:19:26 +1100, "Pat Naughtin" > In the case of the USA, with an estimated gross domestic product of > $11.75 > G$/a, non-metric and mixed (metric and non-metric) businesses could be > costing as much as 1.175 G$/a. To put this figure into newspaper > language, I > estimate that: > > It is costing the USA a little more than a trillion dollars a year not to > be > metric. > > (I have expanded on this idea in a pdf article called, 'Costs of not > going > metric' at http://www.metricationmatters.com/articles ) > > Based on a USA population estimate of 296 000 000, this is roughly 6015 > dollars per person per year or about 16.50 $/day for each citizen of > the > USA. > > In the UK, with a GDP of 1.01 G£ and a population of 60 500 000 the > overall > savings would be about 152 M£/a; 2510 pounds per person per year; or 6.87 > £/day for each citizen of the UK. > > And remember that the people of the UK and the USA will have to pay these > amounts every day until they (inevitably) achieve metric only economies. > I > have no doubt that both nations will achieve a metric only economy; the > current issue is not the question of will the UK and the USA 'Go metric' > but > how long they will take to do so. Currently, in both cases they have > chosen > the slowest possible pathways. > > A trillion dollars each year is a lot of money so obviously these figures > seem outrageous. I would be most delighted to be proved wrong in my > estimates. > > If you wish to check my figures, I based my calculations on estimated > figures for GDP (2004) and population (2005) in the USA and UK taken from > the CIA Factbook at: > http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/us.html > > Cheers, > > Pat Naughtin > PO Box 305, Belmont, 3216 > Geelong, Australia > Phone 61 3 5241 2008 > > Pat Naughtin is the editor of the free online monthly newsletter, > 'Metrication matters'. > You can subscribe at http://www.metricationmatters.com/newsletter > > Pat is recognised as a Lifetime Certified Advanced Metrication Specialist > (LCAMS) with the United States Metric Association. He is also editor of > the > 'Numbers and measurement' section of the Australian Government Publishing > Service 'Style manual for writers, editors and printers'. He is a > Member > of the National Speakers Association of Australia and the International > Federation for Professional Speakers. See: > http://www.metricationmatters.com > > This email and its attachments are for the sole use of the addressee and > may > contain information that is confidential and/or legally privileged. This > email and its attachments are subject to copyright and should not be > partly > or wholly reproduced without the consent of the copyright owner. Any > unauthorised use of disclosure of this email or its attachments is > prohibited. If you receive this email in error, please immediately delete > it > from your system and notify the sender by return email. > -- Bernard Rachtmann [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- http://www.fastmail.fm - Access your email from home and the web
