For the price of the Iraq War, we could buy every impoverished American child a lifetime of dinners at Trudy's, a Tex-Mex restaurant in Austin, Texas.
According to recent census data, there are 13.3 million American children in poverty. If we assume that these children will each live an average of 70 more years, they will jointly consume a total of 340 billion dinners over the rest of their lives.
The enchilada plate at Trudy's, which I would often order with chipotle sauce over mushrooms and pinto beans, costs $7.95. At this price, we could buy every American child a lifetime of dinners for $2.70 trillion, which is less than Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes' estimate of $3 trillion for the cost of the Iraq War.
Photo credit: Patrick Meredith, Austin-American Statesman
