The Growth of American Public Expenditures: Recent Trends and Their Implications

Abstract

Although much concern has been voiced recently about the growth of government expenditures in the United States, there is no consensus on the nature of that growth. To illustrate, within the past year one analysis described a rate of growth which, if projected, would lead to government takeover of the economy sometime in the next century, while another analysis argued that the public sector share of national spending has remained stable over the past quarter century.' The purpose of the current research is to clarify the nature of the recent trends in American public expenditures. The clarification will be sought through an analysis of post-depression trends in total government spending and in spending by governmental levels and by specific functions.' This essay will both describe and attempt to explain the trends.