The cost of war.
Feb. 7th, 2008 06:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sobrique"Opportunity cost."
Wonderful term that.
It's economics, and what it means, is the cost of 'doing something else'.
Me having unpaid leave has no 'real' cost, but it does have an opportunity cost of a day of pay.
And it's one that gets bounced around in games like EVE - the opportunity cost of making and selling a spaceship, when compared to just selling the components instead.
But there's a real world opportunity cost, that's... well, quite telling.
How about this war in Iraq then? What has it 'cost' and what does that 'opportunity cost' mean?
Well, we've got the 'cost of war counter' right here:
How's that looking? Big number right? Meaningless as such?
How about the Guardian's take on it - economic impact of the 'whole war' clocking in at nearly $2 trillion: http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1681119,00.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq_War#Criticisms_and_costs
How's this for the comparison then?
Boston.Com: What will $611 billion buy you?
The one that I find most telling is the last one.
"According to World Bank estimates, $54 billion a year would eliminate starvation and malnutrition globally by 2015, while $30 billion would provide a year of primary education for every child on earth."
Here's our opportunity cost.
Wonderful term that.
It's economics, and what it means, is the cost of 'doing something else'.
Me having unpaid leave has no 'real' cost, but it does have an opportunity cost of a day of pay.
And it's one that gets bounced around in games like EVE - the opportunity cost of making and selling a spaceship, when compared to just selling the components instead.
But there's a real world opportunity cost, that's... well, quite telling.
How about this war in Iraq then? What has it 'cost' and what does that 'opportunity cost' mean?
Well, we've got the 'cost of war counter' right here:
How's that looking? Big number right? Meaningless as such?
How about the Guardian's take on it - economic impact of the 'whole war' clocking in at nearly $2 trillion: http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1681119,00.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq_War#Criticisms_and_costs
How's this for the comparison then?
Boston.Com: What will $611 billion buy you?
The one that I find most telling is the last one.
"According to World Bank estimates, $54 billion a year would eliminate starvation and malnutrition globally by 2015, while $30 billion would provide a year of primary education for every child on earth."
Here's our opportunity cost.
