Bilmes and Stiglitz on the costs of the Iraq War :: Marginal Revolution

For far more analysis and insight than has been provided on the subject here, head over to Marginal Revolution (link above) and read Tyler Cowen's post, and the comments that follow. You'll be able to begin to build your own informed opinion.

The comments begin answer a question I had - which is how Bilmes and Stiglitz compares to the Topel, Murphy and Davis paper.

UPDATE. See also Mahalanobis:

by ignoring benefits that war proponents articulated (eliminating a threat before it is imminent, humanitarian relief, enforcing UN resolutions, democracy in Iraq, securing Iraq's oil) Stiglitz assumes this war had no valid principles, in which case his conclusion on the cost-benefit axis is preordained.