Nobel Prize-Winning Economist to Discuss True Cost of Iraq War

EVANSTON, Ill. --- In his latest book, Nobel Prize-winning economist and former World Bank chief economist Joseph E. Stiglitz argues that the war in Iraq is costing Americans $25 billion each month and is tied to the nation's current economic crisis. Stiglitz will discuss the war's financial costs Friday, April 18, at Northwestern University.

Co-author of "The Three Trillion Dollar War: The True Cost of the Iraq Conflict," Stiglitz will give a lecture of the same name at 9 a.m. at the Tribune Auditorium in the James L. Allen Center, 2169 Campus Drive, Evanston. His talk is free and open to the public.

In "The Three Trillion Dollar War," Stiglitz and co-author Linda J. Bilmes calculate the hidden monetary costs of the Iraq war apart from its tragic human toll. These include the accelerated depreciation of military equipment, staggering health care and disability costs for veterans, and negative effects of the war on U.S. and global economies.

In recent testimony before the Joint Economic Committee, Stiglitz noted that Iraq is now the second longest war in America's history and, after World War II, the second most costly, even adjusting for inflation. In terms of costs per troop, he argued it is by far the costliest war -- some eight times as expensive as World War II.

A former member and chairman of President Clinton's Council of Economic Advisers, Stiglitz now is University Professor at Columbia University and chair of Columbia's Committee on Global Thought. He is author of "Globalization and Its Discontents" and other books about economics and international trade.

Stiglitz's lecture is sponsored by the Roberta Buffett Center for International and Comparative Studies and Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management. For more information, call (847) 467-2770 or visit http://www.cics.northwestern.edu/.