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.
Navy/Handout via Reuters. U.S. forces conducted on Wednesday a second day of bombing against ISIS targets in Syria, in an operation that President Barack Obama expects to last more than three years -- and which may cost as much as $10 billion a year, according to estimates compiled by Foreign Affairs magazine.