In-Depth Analysis Of The American Civil War

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Wars can often disrupt a nation's economy – particularly during the years following a given conflict – and this is never more true than in the case of a civil war. In their paper, Goldin and Lewis conduct an in-depth examination of the American Civil War, considering both its costs and aftereffects. The authors split the war's costs into two distinct classifications. First, there is the evident, direct cost of the Civil War, namely expenditures that fueled the conflict and the inevitable destruction of both physical capital, and human capital as a result of wartime casualties. Second, Goldin and Lewis consider the equally important, but difficult to identify opportunity cost of the war – an indirect cost brought about by disruptions in typical