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Is that adjusted for inflation?
Also, is that only counting the American cost in the first world war, or is it including the price that Europe had to pay?
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I think it's the American cost which is adjusted for inflation.
The three trillion dollar war | Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes - Times Online Quote:
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Also don't forget that a massive labor shortage was produced by the (approximately) 60,000,000 deaths+casualties of the first world war. That has to be factored into the economic analysis.
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At the moment Europe is losing labor for another reason: Demographic change.
As people get older they are less likely to be able to work. Old people still have to be feed and need medical assistance while dead people don't.
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It could well be, but when analyzing a crisis you also have to factor in the improvement that occurred before the crisis.
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We will probably still have things like computers that make us productive after the crisis. We however have also other inventions like 100$ IEDs.
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In fact, I believe by doing this the government has created most of our current problems. Having said that, however, I don't think that the federal government will allow the situation to get as bad as during the Great Depression. Think about how much money is being wasted on the War on Terrorism and the War on Drugs.
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Money doesn't solve problems.
Feeding people is a problem of organization.
If the government loses control in places like Detroit, gangs will form that need police attention because they are actually violent and threaten to further destabilize the state.
I also think that it is unlikely in such a scenario that the government would legalize illegal drugs.