Het failliete Amerika 4

LINDA BILMES, is een voormalige Amerikaanse staatssecretaris van Handel. JOSEPH STIGLITZ is hoogleraar aan de Columbia University. In 2001 kreeg hij de Nobelprijs in de economie. Dit tweetal schrijft in de Los Angeles Times: 'LAST WEEK, at the annual meeting of the American Economic Assn., we presented a new estimate for the likely cost of the war in Iraq. We suggested that the final bill will be much higher than previously reckoned — between $1 trillion and $2 trillion, depending primarily on how much longer our troops stay. Putting that into perspective, the highest-grossing movie of all time, "Titanic," earned $1.8 billion worldwide — about half the cost the U.S. incurs in Iraq every week.Like the iceberg that hit the Titanic, the full costs of the war are still largely hidden below the surface. Our calculations include not just the money for combat operations but also the costs the government will have to pay for years to come. These include lifetime healthcare and disability benefits for returning veterans and special round-the-clock medical attention for many of the 16,300 Americans who already have been seriously wounded. We also count the increased cost of replacing military hardware because the war is using up equipment at three to five times the peacetime rate. In addition, the military must pay large reenlistment bonuses and offer higher benefits to reenlist reluctant soldiers. On top of this, because we finance the war by borrowing more money (mostly from abroad), there is a rising interest cost on the extra debt.' Lees verder:
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-bilmes17jan17,0,7038018.story?coll=la-news-comment-opinions Of: http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/011706L.shtml Voor de huidige kosten van de oorlog in Irak zie: http://nationalpriorities.org/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=182