Current trends in the structure of public expenditures in developed countries

Abstract

All governments spend money. The classic “guns vs butter” debate illustrates the subject matter of this essay well: to what end do governments in developed nations spend their funds? Trends in public expenditure is a topic of particular interest in the aftermath of the year 2020, when many governments – especially developed ones – have spent tremendous amounts of money in Covid-19 stimulus packages. Research indicates that there is no immediate link between the extent of a country’s development and the share of government spending vis-à-vis its gross domestic product. In given research, we looked at the top-10 most developed countries as defined by UNDP’s Human Development Index, and at the trends in the government expenditure along three major lines – education, pensions, and health.