While we can't measure the value of the 3,000 lives lost on September 11th, 2001, we can measure the economic toll the country has paid—and continues to pay—since that fateful Tuesday morning. MarketWatch has a thoughtful take:
A recent study by Brown University pegs the total costs of post-Sept. 11 actions by the U.S. at $3.2 trillion to $4 trillion — and counting… Care of veterans, for example, could add up to an additional $1 trillion over the next 40 years, the study estimated. And interest payments on the national debt could take decades to pay off.
War is expensive—a fact we'll touch on a few times this semester. Is there a price that's too high to pay to keep America safe?
In article published by the Washington Post, Fareed Zakaria discusses why the United States defense budget should be cut. From 2008, the pentagon's budget went from 412 billion to 699 billion, a 70 percent increase. Zakaria also cites that combined spending, of 250 billion in Iraq and Afghanistan, more than average defense spending during the Cold War. Zakaria states many of military services often overlap and accounts for significant amount of government waste.
ReplyDeleteKeeping America safe should be our top priority but we must do it carefully. We need to cut government spending and ensure that all the government agencies are working efficiently. Rather than investing too much in defense, we need to ensure key political actors such as the secretary of state have the right tools to negotiate and strengthen diplomatic ties abroad.
Mark Liang
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/why-defense-spending-should-be-cut/2011/08/03/gIQAsRuqsI_story.html
I agree with Mark’s comment where the US agencies, political actors, and economy specialists need to evaluate very carefully on how to guarantee that Americans are safe by not increasing our costs. This is a very difficult time for American government to choose which programs need to be cut. However, to keep increasing the budget on defense cannot be the only solution to keep America safe.
ReplyDeleteElizabeth Sihombing.
The US should diminished its defense military spending and invest that money into education and to create and encourage opportunities with the private sector to have more jobs for graduating students. Other social programs need vast investments to keep essential operations but the vast majority of money is poured into the military and all its agencies with tremendous lacking in transparency to verify how the money is actually being spent once in the field and military operations in both Afghanistan and Iraq. The trillions of dollars that have been spent during this decade and the still vulnerable, hostile and volatile regions are reaping any positive results or even a looming chance at having stable society any time soon.
ReplyDeleteCarlos moya
Good thoughts, people. I'd also like to add that spending trillions on conflicts in the present day will make it all the more expensive to fight or deter more expensive and dangerous security crises down the road.
ReplyDeleteJesse-Douglas Mathewson