[comment] International conflict as an economic sacrifice

I'm looking for some information about arms trade and during the process I found one article by chance:

Economic analysis of conflict
Todd Sandler
The Journal of Conflict Resolution; Dec 2000; 44, 6;
pg. 723

Sandler said:
"If people have to spend some of their resources guarding their possessions and the fruits of their labor, there are fewer resources for productive activities. In addition, there is less incentive to produce as the probability increases that this production can be stolen." (p.723)

Media coverage about global conflict usually focuses on its tragedic scene or violence itself, but not on what people are really losing. People tend to be interested in how much budget is spent on the war, not in how many jobs are lost because of it. This article gave me a good insight about conflict.