Summary of Why Care About Wars? | The Economics of War & Peace Episode 1

Main Ideas and Concepts

• Economics and War/Peace:
  • The Shrug Response: Treating war and peace as issues for political scientists, not economists.
  • The Smug Response: Assuming that maintaining a healthy economy will naturally reduce conflict without reevaluating economic practices in light of war dynamics.
• Human Costs of War:

  Since World War II, millions of civilians have died in conflicts, with significant percentages of casualties being non-combatants (e.g., over half in the Balkan Wars, two-thirds in the Iraq War). The psychological and physical injuries from war have long-lasting effects on individuals and communities.

• Financial Costs of War:

  The U.S. has spent over $8 trillion on military expenditures since the turn of the century, resources that could be redirected to improve human welfare.

• Environmental Costs of War:

  Militaries contribute significantly to greenhouse gas emissions and environmental destruction, with deliberate acts of destruction during conflicts leading to long-term ecological damage (e.g., landmines, oil spills).

• Case Study: El Salvador:

  The speaker's interest in the intersection of economics and peace was sparked by the Salvadoran Civil War, which resulted in 75,000 deaths and mass displacement. The peace process included significant economic implications, such as creating a national police force and land transfer programs for ex-combatants.

• Challenges in Post-Conflict Economic Policy:

  The need for harmonization between peace-building efforts and economic policies was highlighted, as traditional economic policies often neglected the unique needs of post-conflict recovery. The reluctance of the Salvadoran government to fully implement peace accord provisions was exacerbated by international financial institutions focusing on standard economic conditions rather than peace-building needs.

Methodology and Lessons

• Understanding the Costs of War: Recognize the multifaceted costs of war (human, financial, environmental) to advocate for economic engagement in peace processes.
• Reassessing Economic Policies: Economists should reevaluate their methodologies to consider the implications of war and peace on economic stability and recovery.
• Integrating Peace-building into Economic Frameworks: Economic policies should be designed to support peace-building efforts actively, ensuring that commitments made in peace accords are prioritized in funding and policy decisions.
• Collaboration Between Economic and Peace Efforts: Encourage collaboration between international financial institutions and peace-building initiatives to ensure that economic policies support the overarching goal of sustainable peace.

Speakers/Sources Featured

• The primary speaker is an economist discussing the economic implications of war and peace, particularly in the context of El Salvador's civil war and subsequent peace process.
• Reference to Alvaro Doo and Graciana del Castillo for their work on peace-building and economic policy coordination post-conflict.

Notable Quotes

— 01:16 — « Why should we care about wars? Since the end of World War II millions of people have died as a result of wars, and many of these deaths are of civilians. »

— 03:30 — « Militaries are among the world's biggest emitters of greenhouse gases contributing to climate change. »

— 14:09 — « El Salvador as a patient lying on an operating table with curtain drawn the length of the patient's body on either side of which two doctors were performing surgery at the same time. »

— 20:51 — « The shrug and smug problem that economists simply were not engaging with the Dynamics of War and Peace and that that was something that really needed to change. »

Category

Educational

Video