The Oil 'Price Rise' Factor in the Iraq War: A Macroeconomic Assessment

Abstract

I start with the premise that the war on Iraq was undoubtedly about oil. The prize was Iraq's spectacular oil wealth estimated at 330 billion barrels of proven, semi-proven and probable oil reserves. At current oil price of $130/barrel, the value of these reserves is estimated at $42.9 trillion, more than three times the United States' gross domestic product (GDP). Even Alan Greenspan, the former chairman of the US Federal Reserve Bank for seventeen years, says the Iraq war is largely about oil.

Keywords: Oil, War, Macroeconomic