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2026-04-08 18:25:46
[US-Iran War Costs $500 Million Daily, Total Expenditure May Exceed $30 Billion in Five Weeks] ⑴ Since the US launched its military strikes against Iran in late February, the cost of the war is estimated to have reached tens of billions of dollars, with some think tank experts estimating an average daily cost of $500 million. ⑵ Elaine McCasker, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and former senior budget official at the Department of Defense, estimates that the cost within five weeks of the start of the military operation is between $22.3 billion and $31 billion. This figure includes the cost of deploying additional US military assets to the Middle East starting in December 2025, but does not include a full assessment of combat losses that can only be confirmed after the war ends. ⑶ Mark Cansien, a senior advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and a retired Marine Corps officer, estimates that the US military is costing an average of $500 million per day, with combat and infrastructure losses reaching at least $1.4 billion in just six days. ⑷ Cansien also points out that due to the US military's strict restrictions on disclosing details, the actual cost of the war may be even higher. (5) From a psychological perspective, the high and continuously expanding war spending is reshaping market expectations for the US fiscal deficit and inflationary pressures. This may indirectly affect the pricing of dollar assets and the Federal Reserve's subsequent policy space, especially given that oil prices remain high and inflation has not yet subsided. (6) Future focus will be on the duration of the war and the scale of subsequent budget increases. These two factors will directly determine the final size of the US fiscal burden and its spillover effects on global capital flows.
