Nima Mahdjour maintains the blog, EconomicsJunkie.com. He is also a partner of SWB Consulting and is the founder and CEO of ProjectsCenter.com, which offers an affordable web based project management tool, suitable for small and mid size businesses.

US Government Growth - 2009 Edition - Shooting for Record Highs

The size of government in relation to private sector has grown to 40% in 2009, according to www.gpoaccess.gov estimates.

Below please find a historical chart that shows the growth of the size of government in the US from 1930 on through now. I estimated the numbers of state/municipal expenses prior to 1948, based on the general observable trend back then, applied the GPO’s estimate for 2009 federal expenses, and assumed that state/municipal expenses in 2009 remained at the same level as 2008:

One thing that one can generally take from this: The scope of government intrusion has grown from 7% in 1930 to now over 40%. It is beginning to reach levels that are unprecedented in post war history and only matched during World War 2.

During the Great Depression of 1929, the government already made the mistake of spending more money instead of less. Note the doubling of expenses from 7% in 1930 to 15% in 1933. As we all know, this was the very cause of the immense prolongation of the depression. In particular the war times were hard on the American people, with its 90% income taxes and rationing policies.

The US economy did not get back on its feet until about 18 (!!) years later, partly as a result of a massive winding down of excessive spending and taxes by the federal government, partly of course due to the fact that all the capital in the world flocked from countries in ruins to the only industrialized nation that was still virtually unharmed by bombings, holocausts, nukes, or occupations.

So long as the current path we are on continues, we are bound to repeat the mistakes from the past. Maybe we are even headed for a World War 3? All these mistakes and fallacies could then once again be conveniently obfuscated and masked, voices of reason trampled down by pseudo-patriotic propaganda, precipitating a populace in robotic mode … an army on the march. (”Don’t question your almighty government. The fault is your greediness. It’s the foreigners. It’s the businessmen. It’s the corporations. It’s Al-Quaeda, North Korea, Iran, and everyone else. NOT YOUR GOVERNMENT.”)

One note to all the Krugmans of the world: Just say “Stop” when your prescriptions will have wrecked the world enough and when you’re content with your achievements.