Economic costs vs. Budget costs

Joe Lawler and Joe Stiglitz Agree!

There is, of course, an odd asymmetry, in the treatment of costs. The additional economic costs for the Iraq category do seem like costs to me (transfers to Rest-of-World via higher oil costs, cost-of-life calculations due to American casualties), while the "costs" that Mr. Lawler attributes to PPACA do have some offseting benefits: if one reads the RAND report, for instance, length of life is extended for some of the formerly uninsured, which adds to the "costs".

Posted via email from Jim Nichols