Costs of Disarmament : Rethinking the Price Tag - A Methodological Inquiry into the Costs and Benefits of Arms Control

Arms control, despite being a 'public good' does not readily lend itself to traditional cost benefit analysis, particularly as many of its most notable benefits, such as peace and stability, are difficult to quantify. This paper investigates the methodological challenges involved, and finds that the costs need to be assessed in relation to the benefits gained from avoiding the catastrophic effects arising from the failure to disarm. The paper argues that many of the existing costs of disarmament have been misallocated and should rightly be perceived as the life cycle cost of armaments.Willett, Susan is the author of 'Costs of Disarmament : Rethinking the Price Tag - A Methodological Inquiry into the Costs and Benefits of Arms Control', published 2005 under ISBN 9789290451419 and ISBN 9290451416.