16 Examples of Government Wasteful Spending

It costs a lot to be this dumb.

Published 5 months ago in Facepalm

While New York City — and mayor Eric Adams — may have come under fire this week for reportedly spending $4 million to prove if and how trash cans work (they do), they're far from the only municipality to throw caution — and a whole lot of cash — to the wind.

Over the past several decades, governments around the globe have managed to make financial decisions more questionable than your college self, pouring millions into strange research, bailouts and a whole host of other weird venues.

From studies into coffee spills to developing space safe kimchi, here are 17 dumb things governments spent too much money on.

1
 Tracking Down People Who Don’t Pay Their Student Debt
“In FY 2011, the federal government spent more than $1.4 billion to hunt down student loan defaulters.”

2
Nine Rare Italian Goats
“The American government spent 6M$ on 9 Italian goat[s], trying to develop the cashmere market in Afghanistan.”

3
A Proposed Gaydar
“In the 1950s and 60s Canada spent ‘thousands and thousands’ making a ‘gaydar’ to detect homosexual government employees.”
4
"Pickle Research"
“In 1993, the U.S. Government spent $277,000 on ‘pickle research.’”

5
Researching Why People Spill Coffee
“The Pentagon spent $170,000 to find out why one spills coffee while walking.”
6
A Non-Functioning Adult Content Filter
“In 2007, the Australian Government spent $84 million on a p—n filter. A 16-year old boy, Tom Wood, cracked the filter in less than 40 minutes.”
7
A Failed Telepathy Experiment (We Hope)
“The US Government spent 20 years and $20m on an experimental project to test and train telepaths for military use.”

8
How Shrimp Fare On A Treadmill … Kinda
In 2011, a study designed to determine how shrimp react to ocean warming or pollution sparked controversy and conflicting reports. While several lawmakers balked at the experiment — one that Forbes claimed cost $3 million — Marine biologist David Scholnick claimed the treadmill cost less than $50 to make.
9
Paying For Fiber Internet That Never Came To Pass
“The USA paid $200 billion dollars to cable company's to provide the US with Fiber internet. They took the money and didn't do anything with it.”
10
A Non-Functional Desalination Plant
“The Victorian Government in Australia spent $5.7 Billion on a seawater desalination plant. That plant is complete and in ‘Standby Mode’, costing $1.8 Million per day to produce NO clean water.”

11
The Phrasing of Neil Armstong’s First Words on the Moon
Researchers reportedly used roughly $700,000 in grants from the National Science Foundation to determine whether Neil Armstrong’s “one small step for man” quote had a missing “a.” The report was inconclusive, stating their “results demonstrate that substantial ambiguity exists in the original quote from Armstrong."
12
To Confirm That Beer Koozies Work
In 2009, researchers at the University of Washington spent $1.3 million in National Science Foundation grants to determine that beer koozies can, in fact, insulate beverages.
13
Non-Functional Bomb Detectors
“The Iraqi government spent $85 million on fake bomb detectors that had no batteries or internal electronics.”

14
A "Jihad Literacy" Program
The U.S. spent $50 million on a “Jihad Literacy” program in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. They “paid for and approved curricular materials for small children that emphasized religious war,” per NPR.
15
Medication For Erectile Dysfunction
“The U.S. Department of Defense spent $41.6 million on [erectile dysfunction medication] and $84.24 million total on drugs for erectile dysfunction in 2014. Less than 10% of prescriptions were for troops, the rest went to retirees or family members covered by military health plans.”
16
Space-Safe Kimchi
In the 2000s, “three top government research institutes” in Korea spent millions to develop “space kimchi.” This Kimchi was designed “not turn dangerous when exposed to cosmic rays or other forms of radiation and would not put off non-Korean astronauts with its pungency,” per the New York Times.