Ever Increasing Government: a good idea, or not?
- From: Engineer <invalid@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 22 Apr 2006 16:32:33 +0000
Timothy Travis wrote:
My view is that a government should not be judged by its size, but by what
the humans beings how comprise it are doing.
How Big Is Big Government?
Adapted from an article by Mark Brandly
We, in the United States, live under the rule of the largest government
in history. Federal spending alone in fiscal year 2006 is expected to
be over $2.7 trillion, which means the federal government spends $7.4
billion a day or $5.1 million in every minute of the year. This is 815
times the level of federal spending in 1930.
In the first five years of the Bush regime, federal spending increased
45%. For comparison's sake, during the eight Clinton years federal
spending increased 32%
Since 1930, in addition to the spending increases, the feds also drove
prices up more than 1,100%. If we adjust the spending numbers to account
for this inflation, real federal spending is 65 times larger than it was
in 1930. The US population has more than doubled since 1930, so if we
take the population changes into account, real per capita spending is
27 times higher than in 1930.
This $2.7 trillion in federal spending breaks down to $9,000 per person
-- $36,000 for the average family of four. If we add in all state and
local spending, then total government depredations are currently over
$4.4 trillion or about $14,700 per person annually. Since 1959, government
depredations, in real terms, have increased at an average annual rate of 4%.
A significant portion of this spending is being financed with government
borrowing. In 1930, the per capita debt load was $140 per person. The
current federal total debt level is $8.4 trillion, which works out to
around $28,000 per person. In short, the per capita debt load is 200
times larger than it was in 1930. Adjusting for inflation, the real debt
per capita is still over 16 times more than it was in 1930.
Federal government debt increased $553 billion in fiscal year 2005 alone.
That's more than $1.5 billion of additional debt per day and over $1
million of borrowing per minute for every minute of the year. The interest
on the debt in 2005 was $352 billion or more than $1,100 for every man,
woman, and child in the country. These interest payments are roughly
equal to 37% of federal income tax revenues.
Much of this debt is owed to the Federal Reserve. US taxpayers are on
the hook for $758 billion of government securities that are held by the
Fed. So on average, every person in the country owes the Fed about $2500.
Tax revenues and borrowing have financed all sorts of interventions.
Since 1959, we have suffered from the Great Society, the war on poverty,
price controls, increasingly burdensome environmental regulations, the
establishment of the Department of Education and its increasing federal
control over local schools, Federal Reserve created recessions,
agricultural price supports, minimum wage laws, and energy policies that
keep oil and gasoline prices high.
There's more. We've also had labor policies that increase the costs of
hiring workers driving down their take-home pay, trade restrictions
and trade agreements that give the feds control over our international
trade, massive increases in the welfare state, the drug war, endless
pork barrel spending, and the prosecution of businessmen for political
gain. There have also been the wars to extend the US empire, from the
Vietnam War to the Iraq War. A partial list of the other military
interventions would include conflicts in Cambodia, Laos, Lebanon,
Panama, the Gulf War, Somalia, Bosnia, and Afghanistan. I could go
on, but you get the idea.
Those of us making the case for liberty have logic, history, and morality
on our side. Government intervention is immoral and should be stopped for
that reason alone. However, the economic costs of the intervention are
also important.
Mark Brandly teaches economics at Ferris State University
.
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