Shrinking the national debt one soldier at a time

The World

President Obama is making a priority of slashing the national debt in the coming years and he says some of the greatest savings come from pulling troops out of Iraq. But just how much money can be saved by a troop withdrawal? To answer that question, we turn to Linda Bilmes, Harvard professor of public finance and co-author with Joseph Stiglitz of the book The 3 Trillion Dollar War: The True Cost of the Iraq Conflict and a new book The People Factor: Strengthening America by Investing in Public Service.

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