Norman
Diamond Member
- Sep 24, 2010
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I asked you first..
its telling us spending to gdp in % is lower than the historical average...what happy days? we are on a clear fiscally sound course, what? does this include spending built in btw?Is this in real dollars of fed revenue, outside deficit spending?
What it tells me is that the American economy has had the capacity to spend a greater share on government programs in the past. True, defense was a bigger share of the economy in the 50s and 60s, but nonetheless, government spending played a bigger role then than it does now. My guess is that most people would think the opposite, given the tone of the debate. It doesn't mean we should have more government spending but per capita growth grew at a pretty constant rate from 1945 to 2006 no matter what the level of taxes or government spending.
Something is off in that chart. You need to measure spending as % of gdp.
By going to government spending.com it becomes obvious that the spending is now more than ever (44% of the economy + fed private purchases). US has actually surpassed some of the scandinavian countries in the spending department (at least 2 years ago).