It is Washington's new hobby: keeping track of acronyms denoting US government programmes and totting up the associated cashflows. Treasury secretary Tim Geithner posed an arithmetical challenge at the weekend, announcing that $135bn remained of the $700bn from the trouble asset relief programme. The Government Accountability Office reckoned there was $110bn left.

The original bank capital injection programme accounts for $218bn. It is surprising, perhaps, that beleaguered banks did not sign up for the full $250bn allocated them before the November deadline. Emergency top-ups for Citigroup and Bank of America came to $53bn. The ultimate basketcase, AIG, got $70bn. Schemes to stimulate consumer and business lending total $95bn. Part of that, $25bn, is earmarked for Mr Geithner's latest initiative to buy banks' bad assets. This plan also receives a further $75bn. Then there is $50bn in funds for mortgage relief. Finally, there is $30bn for the auto sector.