Stiglitz: Iraq Costs Will Surpass WWII

Monday, March 3, 2008 8:59 a.m. EST

Nobel-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz says two surprising facts about the Iraq War are becoming increasingly hard to ignore.
The war effort will end up costing more than World War II, he estimates. Yet the industrial gain economists expect from waging a war simply will not appear.

In fact, Iraq is not hurting the U.S. economy, Stiglitz told the New York Times.

"It used to be thought that wars are good for the economy. No economist really believes that anymore," Stiglitz said.

Stiglitz’s new book, "The Three Trillion Dollar War," published by W.W. Norton, is due out Monday. He and co-author Linda Bilmes figure the Iraq war’s true costs have hit at minimum $3 trillion.
World War II, adjusted for inflation, cost the United States $5 trillion.

Now five years running, the Iraq war was initially billed as a wash, since increased oil exports would finance the Iraqi’s own self-defense.

That hasn’t happened, Stiglitz argues, while the bills for veterans’ care and the heavy costs inflicted on U.S. military capacity have come due.

Stiglitz adds in the drag on the economy due to high oil and other indirect costs resulting from the war.

He calls the $3 trillion "conservativeâ€