***** The Economic Consequences of a War with Iraq William D. Nordhaus, Yale University October 29, 2002 Revised
...Will the U.S. actually undertake the massive effort required to rebuild and democratize Iraq? In virtually every country where the U.S. intervened militarily over the last four decades, it has displayed a "hit and run" philosophy where bombing runs have seldom been followed by construction crews. The latest war in Afghanistan is a signal example. In the year ending September 2002, the U.S. spent $13 billion on the war effort. By contrast, the total Pentagon effort has committed only $10 million to civil works and humanitarian aid.
The disproportion between military destruction and civilian construction in Afghanistan and elsewhere does not augur well for an ambitious rebuilding effort in Iraq. Is it plausible that such an enormous civilian effort will be appropriated when the U.S. today spends only $15 billion annually on foreign aid for the entire world? The prospect of an ambitious nation-building plan that is left half-built is the most realistic prospect....
<http://www.econ.yale.edu/~nordhaus/iraq.pdf> *****
Cf. William D. Nordhaus, Yale University, "The Economic Consequences of a War with Iraq," November 2002, <http://www.econ.yale.edu/~nordhaus/iraq.html> -- Yoshie
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