A new book by New York University professor Joshua Goldstein is estimating the average U.S. household is now paying $500 per month to cover the costs of the country’s war efforts. Goldstein says it is as if the government set up a meter in each household and forced the residents to put a quarter in every 20 minutes for every day of the year. Goldstein said the $500 figure does not calculate the less tangible costs of war such as lost lives and budget pressures on health care and education. Goldstein reports on his findings in a forthcoming book titled The Real Price of War in which he argues the government should spend even more money to win the so-called war on terror.