Via Think Progress, we find that lo and behold, actual economists predicted the an invasion and prolonged US presence In Iraq could spark a global recession. So, if you somehow aren't convinced this war was a disaster on moral grounds, or that our government lied to us about the threat Iraq posed, try these on for size.
Nordhaus: “A war against Iraq could cost the United States hundreds of billions of dollars, play havoc with an already depressed domestic economy and tip the world into recession because of the adverse effect on oil prices, inflation and interest rates."
Robert Shapiro, former undersecretary of commerce in the Clinton administration: “If the conflict wears on or, worse, spreads, the economic consequences become very serious. Late last year, George Perry at the Brookings Institution ran some simulations and found that after taking into account a reasonable use of oil reserves, a cut in world oil production of just 6.5 percent a year would send the United States and the world into recession.”
Of course, when Stoller asked important policy makers about the frame, he was brushed aside. Because, you know, our foreign and economic policy aren't related or anything.
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Adam Doster, a contributing editor at In These Times, is a Chicago-based freelance writer and former reporter-blogger for Progress Illinois.
