A New Consensus series
The Cost of War
Modern wars are expensive in ways most Americans never see — in lives, in infrastructure, in decades of foregone investment at home. This series tries to put those costs on a single page, one question at a time.
Part 1 · Interactive chart
Who Bombs?
Estimated tonnage of bombs and missiles dropped in war, by country, since aerial bombing began around 1911. About 85% of everything on the chart comes from one country.
Open the chart →
More coming
In the works
Further pages in this series will look at the dollar cost of America's post-9/11 wars, the opportunity cost versus domestic investment, and the long tail of veteran care and unexploded-ordnance cleanup.