No country knows what the true cost of war will be. Besides, cost is often irrelevant particular when the war is seen as a war of survival.Nations go to war and then find ways to pay for it. Not having the income to finance a war has never stopped us. I rather doubt the lack of funds would have stopped the US after Pearl Harbor. It certainly did stop us in the revolutionary war or civil war.It's hard to say what the United States would be like today without an income tax or some equivalent means of raising revenue. However, I believe had there not been an income tax in 1913, there would have certainly been one at outbreak of WWI and if not, then during the great depression, or WWII, or the cold war, or with the demand for services that only the federal government could provide.let me find the link i had read, it could have been when income tax was first instituted with employer taking out the taxes....? give me a few minutes...to find it.
The income tax was implemented twice in the 19th century and then struck down as unconstitutional. Then they rammed through the 16th amendment in 1913 and yes, it was never meant to hit middle class and lower income earners, but that is why you never give the government that kind of power in the first place.
That's exactly why we should have never adopted an income tax. We never would have gone to war in 1917 if we didn't have one.
Lincoln would not have been able to prosecute his war without his illegal income tax. The Founding Fathers funding their war by debasing the currency. FDR did the same thing. In all cases, the government has never been honest with citizens about the true cost of war.