The Real Price of War: How You Pay for the War on Terror

Rating:
Summary: Good Analysis, Impractical Solution
Review: It's certainly true that War has a cost. And the analysis given here by Mr. Goldstein is probably not far off, especially as we see each new special appropriation that gets submitted to Congress.

He goes into quite a few of the indirect expenses that don't show up in the regular budgets, things like Veterans expenses. He aludes to some expenses that are real but harder to measure, things like the slow down in air travel after 9/11 that affects not only the airlines, but the rest of the travel industry from hotels to Boeing.

The second point worth noting is that his solution is typical of Massachusetts Democrats, raise the taxes on the wealthy. After the least election, I don't see this happening.


Rating:
Summary: Required reading for Republicans
Review: Professor Goldstein has done a wonderful job of presenting a complex subject in terms that we all can understand. I wish this book had been published years ago and that more people had read it, maybe things would be different today.
The book explains in no uncertain terms why we cannot wage a war and cut taxes at the same time, it uncovers all the hidden costs of war and shows how we cannot possibly afford those costs without increased revenue. Goldstein has shown here that we are incurring debt that we, and our children and grandchildren, will be strapped with for many years. If we are to believe that a war on terror is in our best interests than we need to make some hard choices on how we pay for that war. This is a book that the current administration should be required to read.