Economics of war

A depressing (and not widely reported) news article totals the costs of the Iraq and Afghanistan war so far - $315 billion - and projects new costs over the next ten years - an additional $450 billion. Afghanistan accounts for less than a third of the costs to date. The projection assumes a significant decrease in the annual cost - let's hope they're right.

I didn't consider myself an optimist in May 2004 when I reviewed cost projections, made some guesses as to the future and said "my grand total is $210 to $360 billion dollars, or three to seven times the [original] Bush estimate, and twenty to forty times the cost of Gulf War I."

Clearly, this blog has been way too trusting and supportive of the Bush Administration.


Iraq, politics