Iraq War Cost: $1.2 Trillion
January 17th, 2007Via: New York Times:
In the days before the war almost five years ago, the Pentagon estimated that it would cost about $50 billion. Democratic staff members in Congress largely agreed. Lawrence Lindsey, a White House economic adviser, was a bit more realistic, predicting that the cost could go as high as $200 billion, but President Bush fired him in part for saying so.
These estimates probably would have turned out to be too optimistic even if the war had gone well. Throughout history, people have typically underestimated the cost of war, as William Nordhaus, a Yale economist, has pointed out.
But the deteriorating situation in Iraq has caused the initial predictions to be off the mark by a scale that is difficult to fathom. The operation itself — the helicopters, the tanks, the fuel needed to run them, the combat pay for enlisted troops, the salaries of reservists and contractors, the rebuilding of Iraq — is costing more than $300 million a day, estimates Scott Wallsten, an economist in Washington.
JP Morgan and his Federal Reserve banking gang made exquisite fortunes financing wars, such as WWII, like this.
Banks are making a fortune today on war, subprime loans and credit card debt at 18% that people take on when they cannot pay their subprime loan anymore.
Imagine if people started loaning each other money directly for 12% instead, and kept it local to their town or neighborhood? I think Catherine Austin Fitts talks about this new financial intimacy.
Here is a website that is making it happen now.
http://www.prosper.com/
I can’t wait to see how the banks destroy this little curiosity.