Research paper on the economic impact that the Afghanistan and Iraq wars had on the American economy.

Research Paper
Topic: Economic Impact of Afghanistan and Iraq wars on the American Economy
    
Introduction
The Iraq war was an armed conflict started in 2003, when US led coalition invaded Iraq to dethrone the Saddam Hussein Government (Amadeo). It lasted for 8 years and 9 months, and ended in 2011 with the withdrawal of US army from Iraq. The Afghanistan War, also known as the Operation Enduring Freedom started in 2001 when US troops invaded the Afghanistan and Taliban to kill Osama Bin Laden and the other militants of Al Qaeda (Amadeo). After 10 years, in 2011 Osama was shot dead by US troops. However, the troops from UK, US and other countries are still in Afghanistan to help the government in bringing stability to the country.
Impact of Wars on US Economy
The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq affected the US Economy in a number of ways in addition to direct expenditure. Iraq is a country having second largest resources of oil in the world, after Saudi Arabia. The Iraq war brought swings in the oil production levels which affected the prices of crude oil at the international level. This may heavily influence the business cycles of US economy by lowering down the growth rate (Teslik). Upsurge in energy prices and falling value of dollar strained the budget of consumers and companies in US. These things may push the country towards recession.
According to the estimates of Researcher Ryan Edwards, US incurred additional $453 billion interest over the debt for paying due to the wars, which will cost around $7.9 trillion extra to the debt (Amadeo). According to the estimates of 2007 from Congressional Budget Office, US had spent more than $368 billion over its military operations at Iraq (Amadeo). By October 2007, US had spent $45 billion in Veteran care, training and diplomatic services, while $200 Billion in Afghanistan war (Amadeo). In 2017, the total cost of US expense on Iraq war was $1 trillion along with the $705 billion as interest (Teslik). The total cost over both the wars reached to about $2.4 trillion. The total impact of Iraq and Afghanistan wars as long term...