Economist.com | War and the world economy: Don’t look back

Economist.com | War and the world economy

"Vietnam turned out to be much more expensive than anyone predicted at the time. The cost of the war in Iraq is equally uncertain. For a start, there will be no cash contributions from America’s coalition partners, as there were in 1991. Estimates of the eventual cost vary enormously, from $50 billion to several hundred billions of dollars. One analysis suggests it might be as much as 2% of American GDP for the next decade. This potentially huge extra burden will, in effect, be paid for by government borrowing."