"‘Big Government’ Isn’t So Big by Historical Standards. It’s Also Shrinking."

[applegrove]

‘Big Government’ Isn’t So Big by Historical Standards. It’s Also Shrinking.

By CATHERINE RAMPELL at the NY Times

http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/27/big-government-isnt-so-big-by-historical-standards-its-also-shrinking/

"SNIP................................

While Washington debates whether big government is holding back the economy, it’s worth keeping a couple of facts in mind: Government has been shrinking steadily for two years, and compared to the size of the overall economy, government is actually slightly smaller today than it has been on average in the postwar era.
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The overall economy has been growing for 12 quarters. Total government spending (federal, state and local), on the other hand, has been falling for eight quarters. That decline has been driven primarily by state and local spending, which has been falling for 11 quarters. Federal spending has fallen for six of the last seven quarters.

In other words, without the drag of shrinking government, the growth rate of the overall economy (which is measured as consumer spending + investment + government spending + net exports) would be faster. That is even before you consider how public layoffs ripple through the private sector as unemployed workers curb their spending.

Indeed, the shrinking government labor force is another factor worth noting when thinking about the role of government in the economy. While President Obama has been pegged as a big-government politician, the total number of government jobs has actually fallen under his presidency. Federal payrolls have risen a little bit, but not enough to fully plug the steady leak of layoffs at the state and local level.

................................SNIP"

[LiberalFighter]

1. I've always had qualms about big government claims.

How does government get to be big government when it doesn't keep up with the population?

But a real good point in the article is that government is an integral part of the economy. But Republicans are too stupid to get it.