Acesta este costul estimat al razboiului din Irak desi, la inceput, lucrurile pareau ca vor sta total diferit:
In the run-up to the war there were few public discussions of the likely price tag. When Lawrence Lindsey, President Bush’s economic adviser, suggested that it might reach $200 billion all told, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld dismissed the estimate as “baloney.” Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz went as far as to suggest that Iraq’s postwar reconstruction would pay for itself through increased oil revenues. Rumsfeld and Office of Management and Budget Director Mitch Daniels estimated the total cost of the war in the range of $50 to $60 billion, some of which they believed would be financed by other countries.
VanityFair are povestea completa, de fapt un scurt rezumat al ultimei carti a lui Joseph E. Stiglitz – laureat al Premiului Nobel pentru economie, fost economist sef al Bancii Mondiale si, conform Wikipedia, cel mai citat economist din lume.