A = $6.08 billion
B = $75 million
Profits for the single last quarter for BP were 6.08 Billion dollars. Under current US law, their total liability for non-cleanup and containment damages is .075 Billion dollars.
Would any free market supporters like to defend this thinly veiled example of corporate welfare?
See also Things Break for some early estimates of how bad the worst case scenario could get, including implications for the entire US economy.
Like Katrina, global warming did not cause this disaster. But also like Katrina, it is an excellent illustration of issues relating to risk…