When presented with a list of expenditure categories, and polled about which should be the single top priority for budgetary cuts by Congress, “US military actions in the Middle East” was far and away their top choice. But most Americans probably have little idea how enormous those costs truly are.
A new study from Brown University estimates that the cost per individual US taxpayer for wars since 9/11 is at least $23,386. The true figure is far higher because, as the report notes, “the US went into deficit spending after 9/11, the cost of war per taxpayer will be higher as the US pays interest on borrowing for war.” This accounting, notes the report, does not address the human toll, in terms of regional civilian death and displacement, physical and psychological wounds inflicted on US veterans, and the opportunity cost of “what we might have done differently with the money spent and obligated and how veterans’ and civilian lives could have been lived differently.”
| US military actions in the Middle East | 42.0% | |
| Housing assistance | 19.2% | |
| Education, transportation & health | 10.8% | |
| Medicaid & supplemental nutrition | 9.3% | |
| Medicare & Social Security | 6.5% | |
| Veteran’s benefits | 4.9% | |
| Other | 7.3% |
Survey developed by: IRmep
Survey fielded by: Google Surveys 11/13/2017
Representative Sample size: 1,000
Google survey page (link)
Raw survey data from Google (Download)
In the News:
Poll: Americans Would Cut Middle East War Spending: But “crusaders” backed by foreign interests shape policy
11/16/2017 Antiwar.com
Poll: Americans Would Cut Middle East War Spending: But “crusaders” backed by foreign interests shape policy
11/16/2017 Mintpress News