current events on armed conflicts in the US

Although military spending does produce jobs, spending in other areas such as health care could produce more jobs. Spending on the wars has involved opportunity costs for the U.S. We estimate that interest payments could total over $6.5 trillion by the 2050s.

immediately repays the money borrowed for war, there will also be future interest payments.

budget deficit, increased the national debt and had other macroeconomic effects, such as raising consumer interest rates. The current wars have been paid for almost entirely by borrowing. P ublic und erstanding of the budgetary costs of war is further limited by secrecy, faulty ac counting and the deferral of current costs. T he scale of spending alone make s it hard to grasp. P ublic access to budget information about the post-9/11 is imperfect and incomplete. This total omits many other expenses, such as the macroeconomic costs to the US economy the opportunity costs of not investing war dollars in alternative sectors future interest on war borrowing and local government and private war costs.

This figure includes: direct Congressional war appropriations war-related increases to the Pentagon base budget veterans care and disability increases in the homeland security budget interest payments on direct war borrowing foreign assistance spending and estimated future obligations for veterans’ care. Through Fiscal Year 2022, the United States federal government has spent and obligated $8 trillion dollars on the post-9/11 wars in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq and elsewhere.

Current events on armed conflicts in the US