Bush's Shrinking Safety Zone

[tw]

Originally Posted by Undertoad

Using this set of GDP data, and a Sharpie on the back of a wet napkin:
Iraq 2: 1.1% of GDP
Iraq 1: 1.2%
Vietnam: 2% ...

Iraq 1 (Desert Storm or Kuwait Liberation) does not tell the entire picture. Because the president back then was more responsible, then the US paid almost nothing for that war. That war was paid for mostly by the entire world. Japan being the largest contributor. Therefore the negative effects on the economy from that war were marginal at best (and yet still the economy took a small downturn).