The Ghost Budget: U.S. War Spending & Fiscal Transparency

Most experts maintain that oversight, including ex post oversight, is critical to ensure that government actions are transparent and accountable to its citizens. But despite a global push for greater transparency in government, the level of transparency over national security and public spending in many countries is limited. This essay shows that since 9/11, the conduct of the United States in the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, and the wider region has diminished oversight over military spending by funding operations with “emergency ” appropriations and other special budgetary vehicles, financing with debt, concealing expenses through poor accounting, and integrating the private sector into core military activities. This combination of policies, which I term the Ghost Budget, has resulted in less accountability for war spending, lower civic engagement, greater corruption, higher total expenditures, and prolonged conflicts.