Linda Bilmes (@HarvardKennedySchool) explains the unprecedented shift in how the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were financed, contrasting sharply with historical norms. From reliance on debt to the minimal oversight of emergency spending, discover how these critical decisions shaped the nation's economic landscape and potentially prolonged conflicts.

Professor Linda Bilmes is an expert on budgeting and public finance. She is a full-time faculty member at the Harvard Kennedy School and a former Assistant Secretary and Chief Financial Officer of the US Department of Commerce. She has co-authored multiple books and book chapters, including the international bestseller The Three Trillion Dollar War and has written extensively on the cost of war, veterans’ issues, national parks, municipal budgeting and financial topics. She has featured in several films, including Charles’ Ferguson’s award-winning documentary No End In Sight. She serves as the sole US member of the United Nations Committee of Experts on Public Administration. Her research has been published in the New York Times, Financial Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, Foreign Policy, The Atlantic, Barron’s, and other media. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration and holds a BA and MBA from Harvard University and a D.Phil. from the University of Oxford.

Learn more at https://scholar.harvard.edu/lbilmes/home