The Costs and Finances of World War I According to Eli F. Heckscher

Abstract

Heckscher published in 1915 a book on the economics of World War I in Swedish. He analyzed the costs and the finances of war along similar lines as his contemporary Pigou (1916). Heckscher reached farther by making a distinction between the short and the long-run costs of war. He also provided a comprehensive theoretical and empirical analysis of the sources of funds for war finance, including a pioneering analysis of the inflation tax.

Keywords

• Heckscher (Eli F.)
• World War I
• war costs
• war finance
• inflation tax