Has it ever been proven that you can solve a problem by throwing money at it?

Question

I'm thinking mainly about education, the war on poverty.

Answer 1

No, in fact, doing that often changes and "redesigns" the problem without actually solving it.

Answer 2

That depends on the problem and the amount of money. Consider this:

In 2006 the United States spent over half a trillion dollars on military spending. That's more than the rest of the world combined.

At the same time we ranked outside the top 20 nations in charitable contributions as a percentage of gross domestic product. We gave just over $12 billion to charity in 2006. That's less than the cost overruns on a single military project like the F22 fighter.

The US has the resources to end starvation on the planet without increasing taxes a penny, but we spend it on war instead.

This is because our leaders and media keep us in a constant state of fear. Remember, there really weren't any weapons of mass destruction, it was a lie.

Would you like to live in a nation that's the salvation of the world, or the greatest killing machine in history?

Answer 3

First of all to the Marx reader, I read him, he has no understanding of human motivations because he assumes everyone will think the same. Humanity would be boring if he is right about that.

As for throwing money at a problem well it worked for me once. I got in a fight with the IRS, finally consented that this time I was wrong, and they have not bothered me in three years now. So once it worked for me. For the gov't....no.

Answer 4

The more bullets you buy the better your chances in a war, but without people who can shoot, and are willing to pull the trigger, all your bullets are worthless.
No problem can be solved without money, but when the people you spend it on don't do their part all the money in the world will not help anyone, it just needlessly hurts the people from whom the money is taken and then they have less to use to help more worthy recipients.

Answer 5

I will ask a liberal when they run out of money to throw.

it seems odd that many people think that putting more money in to a system where we have to keep lowering the standards just to make the system look good, is like paining a house while it is on fire.

obviouslythe systems in place need to be reformed but there are too many people who want to keep on painting the house.

Answer 6

Any problem, any endeavor including education will not be solved or attained without money. Money is still the moving factor.

Answer 7

probably helps to a point,im thinking about cancer research,musculer dystrophy research even welfare.im sure all started out with good intentions but think about it ,f they solve any of these problems the money gets cut off.what benefit is it to actually solve anything.

Answer 8

this is a pretty classic Republican side step...

well... hmm... let's see...

who's ranked highest in education in the world... and what are their tax rates?

It's been a while since I've looked... but I would bet... NOT US... and HIGHER THAN OUR TAX RATE...

I guess that's a coincidence...

and those countries that have lower tax rates... are pretty much third world countries and have worse schools?

weird?

how about this... IS there an example where taking money away makes a situation better?

that's pretty much what lowering taxes do overall...

Answer 9

i think the saying is you can't solve all the worlds problems by throwing money at them. you can however, help programs that are described as severely underfunded by throwing money at them. and if you think our government has a 'war on poverty' i don't think they do. they're more interested in buttressing their accounts and oppressing the masses. read some MARX!

Answer 10

I don't know how you could prove that. You'd think all the times that vastly increased budgets failed to accomplish anything would count as disproof, though.