At the Iraq war outset, the Bush administration produced an initial cost estimate of about $250 billion. They also announced that, using oil revenue, Iraq could “refinance its own reconstruction.”
Two economists, Linda Bilmes and Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz, have now estimated the total (current and future) cost of the Iraq war to US taxpayers to be roughly $1 trillion. (Assuming 150 million adult US taxpayers, that’s $6700 for each of us!)
Their estimate does not include costs of:
- Current and future deterioration in US quality of life due to failure to address domestic needs
- Opportunity costs of failing to direct resources to improved education, health, basic science, etc.
- Costs of possible future derivative wars (Iran, Syria, etc.)
Read their paper here:
www2.gsb.columbia.edu/faculty/jstiglitz/Cost_of_War_in_Iraq.pdf
Please post this on other blogs!
Filed under: Economics, International Affairs, Iraq War, Iraq War (cost), News, Politics
It’s okay to disagree on the war in Iraq, but as a psychologist, I believe we must continue to offer psychological support to our troops. Furthermore, the greatest weapons possessed by terrorists are psychological ones. They seek to fill us with fear and they seek to crush our spirits. I am trying to offer psychological support to the troops through original music. Here is one example:
Home
Performed by Practically Poetz, featuring Rod Marlin on vocals
words and music by Dr. Bruce L. Thiessen, aka Dr. BLT (c)2006
http://www.drblt.net/music/homeone.mp3
This war is the second expensive for U.S. after the World War II. Here I’ve tried to summarize all costs of the Iraq war for Americans:
http://www.myhowtoos.com/en/red-hot/86-all-costs-of-war-in-iraq-for-usa