August1991 Posted May 1, 2009 Report Posted May 1, 2009 (edited) You may have been as struck as I was by the graph Jason Clemens and Neils Veldhuis published here yesterday (reproduced above). It shows government expenditure in Canada and the United States over the last 60 years as a share of the two countries’ respective GDPs. From 1950 to about 1968, when the afore-mentioned Trudeaumania hit us, the Canada and U.S. lines track pretty closely. For the 25 years after that, while the U.S. line continues on a very gradual upward trend, ours climbs a mountain. We peak in the early 1990s with public spending at Scandinavian — and scandalous! — levels of over 50% of GDP. But then our spending starts declining (as a share of GDP, though not in absolute terms). Some of the improvement is cyclical, reflecting recovery from the early-1990s recession. But the decline continues on into good economic times, to the extent that now public spending is virtually the same share of the two countries’ GDPs. William WatsonTake a look at the graph. I haven't looked at the data but I suppose it includes transfer payments to individuals (including interest on debt) as part of government expenditures. Watson's point is well taken though. Edited May 1, 2009 by August1991 Quote
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