At stake were assets worth vast sums: Russia is the world's largest natural gas producer and became the world's largest oil producer after Saudi Arabia reduced output this summer to support prices.
But he gives scant attention to the fact that research, at least in the sciences, produces, along with new concepts and opportunities for academic prestige, intellectual property potentially worth vast amounts of money and capable of forming the basis of large industries.
In announcing the birth of his daughter, he and his wife, Dr. Priscilla Chan, declared they would donate 99percentt of their worth, the vast majority of which is tied up in Facebook stock valued at $45 billion today.
But, as our special report argues, just as America's system is spreading, there are growing concerns about whether it is really worth the vast sums spent on it.The American wayThe modern research university, a marriage of the Oxbridge college and the German research institute, was invented in America, and has become the gold standard for the world.
Because much of the memorabilia will be produced in Asia and turned into garbage in America, it will increase the strains caused by Ameirca's worsening trade deficit as well as add to the pollution of the environment, both of which are undesirable in a mid-term election year.Protection from such danger is by itself worth the vast resources which a nuclear strike against the comet will require.
Our self-love and perceived self-worth have vast implications on what we think we are capable of and what we think we deserve.
When asked whether he felt Walcott was worth such a vast sum, Wenger maintained it was not just a simple numbers game.
Young people around the country are beginning to feel that it's not worth getting into vast amounts of debt to fund going to university.
The company, whose apps also let people post their snaps onto Facebook, Twitter and other social networks, already boasts over 30m registered users and is growing like Topsy: its Android app was downloaded more than a million times in just 24 hours after its launch on April 3rd.But does that make it worth such a vast sack of cash?
Twitter has saved all of the tweets ever sent (again, some 20 terabytes worth), but the vast majority are just sitting there, dormant.
A network of secret offshore deals and vast loans worth $2bn has laid a trail to Russia's president, Vladimir Putin.
