Global Peace Dividend Could Reach $8 Trillion a Year, Study Says

Reducing prison populations, improving relations with neighboring countries and enhancing the rule of law for local businesses could save countries around the world as much as $8 trillion a year, according to an annual survey of the economics of peace.

Improvements in “peacefulness” -- a measure that includes levels of domestic and international conflict, safety and security -- could create a “dynamic peace dividend” by freeing money now spent on prisons, arms and police, or lost to corruption and poor regulation, according to the Global Peace Index released today. That amounts to as much as $1.8 trillion in the U.S. alone, the study found.