Economic Costs of War: Overview (Bill Moyers: NOW)

NOW/PBS ^ | Mar 8, 2003 | Bill Moyers

[Diddley]

The Dow is down — these days often attributed to war jitters. Oil prices and health costs are up, and over 8 million people are unemployed. On March 8, 2003 the Department of Labor released new figures that were, according to news analysts, "far more severe" than had been predicted. Recently, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL ran a page one story on a worker who had sent out over 700 resumes without landing a job.

The White House now estimates the budget deficit will hit a record $304 billion this year. On March 6, 2003, the NEW YORK TIMES reported that the financial firm Goldman Sachs assessed the figure at $375 billion and warned that it was likely to head higher. These figures don't include the costs of a war with Iraq — government sources have been reluctant to attach a price tag.

On NOW's March 8, 2003 broadcast Bill Moyers talked with Lew Rockwell about the economics of war. Mr. Rockwell is a Libertarian, free-market conservative, and president of the Ludwig von Mises Institute. That's the organization he founded to advocate and promote the philosophy that the solution to fiscal and social woes begins with smaller government. During that interview Mr. Rockwell referred to the federal deficit, federal debt, the size of federal spending, and the dollar costs of war — all of which he views as "destructive" to the American economy.

The U.K. publication THE ECONOMIST, which has an editorial policy favoring war with Iraq, is nevertheless worried about the economic effects of a prospective war. In a recent series of articles, "The Cost of War," THE ECONOMIST looked at the many financial costs of a war: direct military costs; peacekeeping, humanitarian assistance and rebuilding and the macroeconomic costs to the world economy in oil prices, stock markets, the dollar and business and consumer confidence. ABC News, BUSINESS WEEK and U.S. NEWS AND WORLD REPORT all recently cited figures from Yale economist William Nordhaus.

Nordhaus has estimated that the final cost of war including direct and indirect costs will range from $100 billion to $1.9 trillion depending on the duration and character of the conflict.

THE ECONOMIST also noted that governments regularly underestimate the costs of waging war. The U.S. government has not released comprehensive figures, but recent estimates include the following figures.

[Diddley]

What should be down is up; what should be up is down.
What are the costs of the war (wide estimates).
Lew Rockwell's views.

Hell. Let's just quit!

[WorkingClassFilth]

Well, Bill, let's help defray the costs by defunding PBS and getting rid of your cush job. Then we'll really make inroads in paying down the pricetag of the war if we make you foot your bar-tab instead of charging it off on your government charge card.

Everything about Moyers is so antiquated. Why doesn't he just go away and drink himself to death like a good liberal?

[WorkingClassFilth]

Toughy Mcfadden signed up 2003-03-29.

You poor victim of public education. I forgive you, but go away before the big dogs come and tear you a new one.

[Diddley]

Toughy:
Lay of the booze, before posting.

[Diddley]

Well, Bill, let's help defray the costs by defunding PBS and getting rid of your cush job.

It works for me.

[Capitalism2003]

I watched this show...PBS is more biased than NPR and BBC combined! I CAN'T BELIEVE WE ARE PAYING FOR THIS!!! Moyer's show is more liberal than the editorial page of the New York Times...only he is not portraying it as opinion...They portray it as FACT! It is so ridiculous...This is the first night I've watched his program...absolutely one sided with nothing but left wing propaganda...Lefties want to get rid of all privately owned media so they can have THIS...their state run utopia. We really need to defund these programs.

[Mind-numbed Robot]

Liberals care about the deficit only when Republicans control the spending. When they are in command the sky is the limit. They conned reagan into a tax increase by agreeing to cut $2.00 in spending for each $1.00 in tax increases. Did they live up to that? No they ran up the largest deficit in history up until that time and later, even now, blamed it on the Republicans and Reaganomics (tax cuts).

The question to those who complain about the cost of the war should be, "What will it cost not to go to war?"

[Dilbert56]

Hey moron Moyers - the Dow is up and Oil prices are down. You wouldn't know a fact if it bit you on your DUI ass.
Mitch Daniels was interviewed the other day and asked to respond to the bed-wetters' rant that rebuilding Iraq is going to cost billions more. He totally deflated every aspect of it. There are billions in the oil-fo-food program, billions more in Sadaam's bank accounts, and billions more in oil under the ground in Iraq. WE won't be paying the bills. Having forces in Iraq means we no longer need them in Saudi Arabia or Kuwait. No more no-fly zones to support either. Moyers -you're an idiot.

[Mind-numbed Robot]

Thanks for the great information. I missed the Daniels interview but I know he is great in those situations.

[Diddley]

Well said.
:-)