Comparing Various War Expenditures
Yesterday, we looked at the costs of various one time events versus the bailouts . It took one year of bailouts to rack up the debt totals of 206 years of war, westward expansion, space exploration, etc. The chart we created omitted numerous conflicts (WWs, the Civil War, etc.) and I was curious as to actual costs of them, adjusted for Inflation. Reader Ernst Mayer turned me on to this analysis by Stephen Daggett, a specialist in Defense Policy and Budgets. Daggett’s table (shown below) gives you our war spending details, but — spoiler alert – no other military engagement remotely compares to the financial costs of WWII. Total inflation adjusted spending: over 4.1 trillion dollars. That was about 36% of GDP. Incredible. > Years of War Spending Peak Year of War Spending Total Military Cost of War in Millions/Billions of Dollars War Cost % GDP in Peak Year of War American Revolution Current Year $ Constant FY2008$ 1775-1783 101 million 1,825 million NA War of 1812 Current Year $ Constant FY2008$ 1812-1815 90 million 1,177 million 1813 2.2% Mexican War Current Year $ Constant FY2008$ 1846-1849 71 million 1,801 million 1847 1.4% Civil War: Union Current Year $ Constant FY2008$ 1861-1865 3,183 million 45,199 million 1865 11.3% Civil War: Confederacy Current Year $ Constant FY2008$ 1861-1865 1,000 million 15,244 million NA Spanish American War Current Year $ Constant FY2008$ 1898-1899 283 million 6,848 million 1899 1.1% World War I Current Year $ Constant FY2008$ 1917-1921 20 billion 253 billion 1919 13.6% World War II Current Year $ Constant FY2008$ 1941-1945 296 billion 4,114 billion 1945 35.8% Korea Current Year $ Constant FY2008$ 1950-1953 30 billion 320 billion 1952 4.2% Vietnam Current Year $ Constant FY2008$ 1965-1975 111 billion 686 billion 1968 2.3% Persian Gulf War /a/ Current Year $ Constant FY2008$ 1990-1991 61 billion 96 billion 1991 0.3% Iraq /b/ Current Year $ Constant FY2008$ 2003-Present 616 billion 648 billion 2008 1.0% Afghanistan/GWOT /b,c/ Current Year $ Constant FY2008$ 2001-Present 159 billion 171 billion 2007 0.3% Post-9/11 Domestic Security (Operation Noble Eagle) /b/ Current Year $ Constant FY2008$ 2001-Present 28 billion 33 billion 2003 0.1% Total Post-9/11–Iraq, Afghanistan/GWOT, ONE /d/ Current Year $ Constant FY2008$ 2001-Present 809 billion 859 billion 2008 1.2% > Source: Costs of Major U.S. Wars Stephen Daggett, Specialist in Defense Policy and Budgets Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division Congressional Research Service Report for Congress (RS22926) 24 July 2008 http://www.history.navy.mil/library/online/costs_of_major_us_wars.htm
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Comparing Various War Expenditures