The Hidden Costs To Our Economy

Remember the story about the three little pigs and the big bad wolf? That story is more than a children’s story in my opinion. That story in addition to telling you to build a substantial house, is about the hidden costs to an economy in a complex society. The house built of bricks by the third little piggy could have been a metaphor for building a strong society with support and balance for its people.

There is a mental and emotional health of a nation. Our nation, the United States of America, has been pushing the envelope through the multiple tours of service of our troops in the military with a "war” that has lasted now over five years. The lack of attention paid to the economy and the consequences of the financial strain created by the cost of the "war” in Iraq has lead to the budget deficit and the heavy borrowing by the US Treasury. And, it has resulted in being one factor in the decline in the US dollar in the foreign currency exchange market. Post traumatic stress syndrome is more and more coming into the news, as is the accompanying problems that this brings for not only the soldier, but also his/her family. What costs are these for our society and for how long?

In the domestic economy, the loss of jobs is beginning to take its toll. Costs accelerating for energy and food has put additional pressure on individuals and families as disposable income has almost disappeared from the family budget. Families need to get out of the house and do things as a family. Holed up in a house or apartment with little or no money to spend on the family will present new challenges to the emotional stability of the family unit.

By our own hand, we may have brought ourselves a terror from within that will put a further strain on our limited financial resources. Depending on how long and how severe our economic downturn will be, will determine the extent to which our society is impacted in the areas of these hidden costs. A society under stress and strain because of a faltering economy, can not be a good thing as we move into the summer months.

The failure of our policies may cause us to pay a stiff price for not thinking through our options before we acted. Our over eagerness to resort to a problem with a military solution may not have been the wisest way to go. The costs to us as a nation may be far greater than the lives lost in battle and the lives impaired by wounds, but the very fabric of our society will be affected and made to pay a price. The cost of war is much more than the cost in soldiers and bullets. The home front is now absorbing the cost of our foreign policies too. I hope I am wrong, but I doubt we have reached the brick house yet. Stay tuned.