As such, comparative advantage is an important concept in global trade, and it's the reason many countries concentrate on trying to produce certain goods or services more efficiently than other countries.
In March 2013, the total cost of the Iraq War to date was estimated at $1.7 trillion by the Watson Institute of International Studies at Brown University. Some argue that the total cost of the war to the U.S. economy will range from $3 trillion to $6 trillion, including interest rates, by 2053, as described in the Watson Institute's report.
The figure came to between $432 billion and $439 billion, about a sixth of the total costs, adjusted for inflation, of World War II, which took a similar length of time. The price tag for the current war is approaching the total cost of the Vietnam War â an inflation-adjusted $494 billion.