Wondering why we’ve been largely terror-free since 9/11 looks at the opportunity costs to fighting terror:
The opportunity costs of this fight, in resources, energy, and know-how — and in our civil rights — are enormous. As Mueller points out, economist Roger Congleton has figured that delaying all airline passengers for only half an hour each adds up to total economic costs of $15 billion a year. Imagine what else smart fellows like the authors of that Rand study, or all the people involved in the new and burgeoning industry, both private and public, of fighting domestic terror assaults, might be able to do if they weren’t expending their energy on what might be a smaller threat than we seem to think?