What's at Stake?

Welcome Cost of War Visitors

Thanks for visiting National Priorities Project's Cost of War Publications page. We're working to serve you better by combining our Cost of War publications with National Priorities Project's central website. You are being redirected to nationalpriorities.org/analysis, where you will find historical Cost of War publications along with a wealth of additional resources about the federal budget.

If you have any questions or need assistance locating a particular Cost of War report, please do not hesitate to contact us at info@nationalpriorities.org or 413-584-9556.

Aug. 22, 2011 - Notes and Sources

What's at Stake? offers 50 state-level briefs focused on the local impact of war spending.

Note: NPP is indebted to colleagues at Center on Budget and Policy Priorities for their research on state budget shortfalls, to the Political Economy Research Institute for its jobs analysis, and to the U.S. Conference of Mayors which issued a report on the potential for economic recovery in metro areas across the country. For more detailed notes and sources, please see the document provided below.

Highlights of the release include a gap analysis focused on Head Start, health insurance, renewable energy and higher education with findings such as:

  • New York has 128,006 Head Start-eligible children, yet only 48,013 Head Start places. For New York's share of this year's Afghan War spending, the state could fund Head Start places for all eligible children for 23 years.
  • Wisconsin has 527,000 uninsured residents. For Wisconsin's cumulative Afghan War spending, the state could provide insurance for all uninsured for 3 years.
  • Washington consumes 1,206,651 Billion British thermal units (BBtu) of non-renewable energy and only 826,289 BBtu of renewable energy. For Washington's share of cumulative Afghan and Iraq war spending, it could pay 45 percent of the cost to convert all non-renewable energy to all solar energy or 133 percent to convert to all wind energy.
  • At the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, the North Carolina share of total war spending ($31 billion) would fund all in-state expenses of a four-year education for each incoming freshman class for the next 95 years.