This chart compares the size of government in America to that of Germany, France, and the European Union (EU) since 2001. This chart shows that the size of government in the U.S. in recent years has been steadily catching up to the size of government in these European countries. For example, Germany has reduced the size of its government since 2001 while the size of our government has increased. In 2009, the size of government in the U.S. will be just slightly behind the size of government in Germany. Even when you look at the size of government for the combined EU or France the U.S. is not far behind. This is a dramatic shift.
Under the Obama Administration’s budget plan the size of the U.S. government starts coming down after 2009. However, as I have stated in previous posts, I believe the projections in this budget plan are optimistic (predicting just a small recession in 2009 followed by strong growth over the next decade). For now, what is sure, is that government in the U.S. is getting bigger.
Data Sources:
> Office of Management and Budget, A New Era of Responsibility Renewing America’s Promise, Table S-1.
> European Commission, Directorate General for Economic and Financial Affairs, Economic Forecast Autumn 2008, Table 35.
>Bureau of Economic Analysis, Tables 1.1.5. Gross Domestic Product, and 3.1 Government Current Receipts and Expenditures.
> The estimate for 2009 cuts state and local government expenditures by 2% from 2008 levels.
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This chart shows the historical size of government in America from 1929 through 2009. It includes federal, state and local government expenditures as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP). This chart clearly shows: 1) that the size of our government will be larger in 2009 than at any other time in recent history, 2) the only other time the size of you government was near current levels was during World War II, and 3) that the size of our government has grown dramatically since 1929.
It can be argued that this chart also shows that we have been on a slow march toward socialism (or at least a more socialistic society) over the past 80 years. More on this topic tomorrow. I will compare the size of our government to the size of government in foreign countries.
Data Sources:
> Office of Management and Budget, A New Era of Responsibility Renewing America’s Promise, Table S-1.
> Bureau of Economic Analysis, Table 1.1.5. Gross Domestic Product, and Table 3.1. Government Current Receipts and Expenditures.
> The estimate for 2009 has state and local expenditures cut by 2% from 2008 levels. And uses the Obama Administration’s budget forecast for 2009 federal expenditures and GDP.
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This is the first chart in a three part series on the size of our government. The above chart provides a measure for the size of government by charting total government expenditures as a percent of gross domestic product (GDP). As the chart shows the size of our government has increased dramatically over the past decade. Check back for tomorrow’s post to see how the size of our government today relates to historical levels.
Data Sources:
> Office of Management and Budget, A New Era of Responsbility Renewing America’s Promise, Table S-1. The 2009 estimate is based on the Obama Administration’s plan and assumes state and local government expenditures actually decline by 2% from 2008.
> Bureau of Economic Analysis, Table 1.1.5. Gross Domestic Product and Table 3.1 Government Current Receipts and Expenditures.
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