"REVENGE only increases the damages of the avenger"

REFLECTIONS OF AN ECONOMIST ON SEPTEMBER 11, 2001

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/remarks-president-state-union-address
http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/cea/

• On September 11, 2001 was perpetrated the attack on the Twin Towers in the U.S.A. With approx. 3.000 dead.
• On September 11, 1973 there was a military coup in Chile. The armed forces led by General Augusto Pinochet overthrew the democratically elected President Salvador Allende
• The 11 September is the National Day of Catalonia (Spain), commemorating the unsuccessful defense of Barcelona against the Bourbon troops during the Spanish War Succession in 1714.
• The September 11 in Argentina marks Teachers' Day in honor of the death of Domingo Faustino Sarmiento in 1888.

NEW YORK - In September 11, 2001, United States suffered the largest attack in its history. Two planes crashed into the Twin Towers in New York and a third struck in the Pentagon in Washington. Many years after that fateful day that took the lives of more than 3 000 people, the memories still shake the world.

I want to make an analysis of the COST to USA and to the world of choosing the revenge as the solution for the attacks. Also I want to quote the Spanish Philosopher and writer Jaime Balmes: "Revenge only increases the damages of the avenger":
http://www.cervantesvirtual.com/obra/el-criterio--0/
Eugenio. The transformations in twenty-Cap: 19, § III.
Sterile venting "to take revenge no increase can be remedied and the evils of the avenger" Pag: 173
Cap: 39 § XXXIX. Example: Two forms of revenge

I will start only pointing out the cost more easily to quantify:

For example: the cost for oil prices for U.S. consumers and the rest of the world. Approx. US$ 40 per barrel more on average.

I explain, this increase means only to US consumers, industry, etc., U.S., 20 billion dollars per month, 240 billion per year and about 2 TRILLION dollars, since the bombing and invasion of Afghanistan, because U.S.A. consumes an average of 17 million barrels per day.

Now, it is necessary to remember that no Afghan or Iraqi participated in the attack and that the invasion of these countries increased poverty and deprivation for millions and millions of people worldwide for its impact on fertilizer prices, increasing the cost of food production, etc.etc..

As a curious note, I could say that the country most financially benefited by the events of 9-11 has been Saudi Arabia, where 15 of its citizens participated. We can estimated its profits in one trillion dollar, half of the loses of U.S.A. only.

Also everybody suffer the consequences of the rising prices of commodities: gold, silver, copper, strategic materials, food, etc.., as I said above.

Why, not being a U.S. citizen, I care about what happens:

1 °) Because since 1959, when I first visited U.S.A., I felt admiration for the freedom of enterprise, freedom of expression, respect and admiration for the creators of wealth and work for others, the ease way of getting a job, with a salary that allowed to live in normal conditions, their roads that I traveled, etc.etc .. , inversely proportional to the envy felt in my country and generally in Latin America for the takers of risks.

2 °) Because for the Destiny, I have a daughter naturalized American and 2 grandchildren born in the U.S.A., country which was for many years the dream of millions of people worldwide who longed with all their hearts to live and thrive in it.

As an economist I want to analyze the cost of the attack of 11 September 2001 in USA;

First, obviously we have the direct costs of the attack, 3000 deaths, the towers and several nearby buildings destroyed, the pentagon damages, problems for markets, transport, etc. ..

Suppose that this means a loss of U.S. $ 20,000 billion: Buildings: 12,000, Lives 3,000, Collaterals 5,000, including the repair of the Pentagon.

Subsequent (later) costs

Unfortunately the U.S. government, in my opinion, didn´t take the bombing (attack) as a warning that something was wrong in its foreign policy, to motivate that 15 highly educated Saudis, sacrificed theirs life, participating in the attacks. We should remember that the Saudis have a high standard of living, being the largest exporters of oil in the world.

The attitude of USA, again in my opinion, was misguided, entering a state that many consider to be paranoid.

Why they consider it paranoid? First, because led the U.S. to invade Afghanistan and Iraq, with a huge cost, at least 100 times, only for the price of oil, more those caused by military expenditure, the imbalances in the markets and in prices of inputs, raw materials, etc.etc ..

Costs for the airlines and the vast majority of its passengers, normal people, who repeatedly had to endure humiliating checks, confiscation of property, etc. ...

Psychological costs to the soldiers who participated in the occupations, to which who were physically affected, to the families of the U.S. soldiers killed and injured, as to the population of Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, etc., In the image of the U.S. for the abuses occurred, the innocent victims, etc. ...

Disproportionate spending on security, which led the U.S. to more than double its debt, without any possibility of ending the threat of attacks, because it wasn´t confronted the root of the problems.

In other words virtually the vast majority of the inhabitants of our planet have been affected, to cite other example: the case of responsible people who prefer to save than to borrow, they have endured a long period in which their savings received virtually NO interest etc., triggering as collateral, an incentive to make risky investments with possibly disastrous consequences for their future, without quoting those affected for the increases in the price of food.

Which, in my humble opinion, are the roots of the problems:

1 °) The Israeli-Palestinian conflict that has already more than 62 years.
2 °) The conditions of misery, hunger, disease, injustice, ignorance, etc.., that affects a large percentage of the world’s population.
3 °) The perception in many people that USA, would be the evil empire, for supporting the economic interests of its companies, without consideration for overthrowing governments, for making associations with corrupt ones, for promoting regional conflicts, etc.etc ...

Now as an Economist note that if these resources invested in security and wars had been invested in education, health, economic development, look for equitable solutions to regional conflicts, in others words, in promoting peace, in controlling Monopolies and speculative bubbles, etc.etc .. The current economic situation of most people with low income and education around the world and also that of the citizens of USA could have been improved substantially.

Remember that it is believed and said that the invasion of Afghanistan was the trigger for the collapse of the Soviet Union.

I hope that these reflections can be useful.

For others cost go to:
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2011/06/2011629145430649752.html

Study: US war spending could top $4 trillion

Research by Brown University finds higher-than-expected long-term costs for Washington's wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Last Modified: 29 Jun 2011 16:39