Opportunity costs

[jhetley]

There's this concept in economics (or was, *mumble* years ago when I took two semesters of the Dismal Science) called "opportunity costs." It's the point on the balance sheet where you take into account what you _could_ have done with the money or other resources for a project, for cost/benefit ratios and such. Would those resources be spent more profitably elsewhere?

Anyway, with Shrub's pending announcement on Iraq, I contemplate what we could have done with those Iraq resources elsewhere, over the last several years. Even assuming all the blood, wealth, time, and equipment was still spent on war, where would Afghanistan be today if we channeled our efforts there, rather than moving the Taliban and Osama to the back burner?

Comments

[quilzas.livejournal.com]

I've long been of the opinion that 'we' should be cost effective when dealing with annoying little countries that for some reason 'we' decide to take an interest in. Don't send troops. Don't send arms and train them how to fight. Drop several bombs, make an actual example out of them, and put money elsewhere. Don't rebuild them. Let the handful of scattered farmers and herders to that. Assuming caring is worth that much effort.

'We' stick 'our' noses in too many goddamn places (pardon my French).