Tuesday, October 03, 2006

ö Cost of Iraq War could cost us $2 trillion I for one, and I think most people, have a lot of trouble getting my head around even $331 BILLION plus (as of today), never mind $2 TRILLION dollars. Here's the ongoing counter and some info about the conservative dollar count from Cost of War.com:   Cost of the War in Iraq (JavaScript Error) details National Priorities Project Cost of Iraq War Notes and Sources The numbers include military and non-military spending, such as reconstruction. Spending only includes incremental costs, additional funds that are expended due to the war. For example, soldiers' regular pay is not included, but combat pay is included. Potential future costs, such as future medical care for soldiers and veterans wounded in the war, are not included. It is also not clear whether the current funding will cover all military wear and tear. It also does not account for the Iraq War being deficit-financed and that taxpayers will need to make additional interest payments on the national debt due to those deficits. more notes and sources  You can also check state, city, county and congressional district taxpayer costs. Then there's this:  Bush's shameful folly in Iraq could cost us $2 trillion According to an analysis by professor Linda Bilmes of the Kennedy School at Harvard and professor Joseph Stiglitz of Columbia University, if you use government assumptions about the size of troop strength over the coming years, the war will cost us $1 trillion in direct budgetary outlays. Then, they say, add another trillion dollars for the war's adverse impact on our economy, such things as the loss of economic services by the men and women disabled during the war, the increase in the price of oil and other macroeconomic factors. Bilmes says that most people have trouble understanding the scale of $2 trillion. To grasp the number, she says, one should think of it like this: "One billion seconds equal 32 years; 1 trillion seconds equal 300 centuries." more  permanent link #     ^ TOP ^  what is this place?