US Economy, Government Finances & Debt – Some of the Gory Details (III)

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% of GDP, budget deficit, Democrats, politicians, Republicans, US economy, US government finances, US government revenues, US government spending, US taxes

Continued from here:

Right, in Part II we surveyed US government spending. While spending spiked to 23.7% of GDP in 2010 (the highest since 1946) due to the financial crisis, it otherwise gradually declined over the past few decades to about 19% of GDP in the early 2000s. The decline appears primarily due to decreased defense spending.

We also noted that total US government spending’s among the lowest in the developed world. Despite this, the accompanying decline in tax revenues over the decades now leaves us in a situation where spending’s at 160% of revenues in 2010. What does that mean in terms of the government’s budget deficit and, of course, debt?

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US Economy, Government Finances & Debt – Some of the Gory Details (II)

Tags

% of world GDP, EU economy, Euro Area economy, OECD, US economy, US government finances, US taxes

Continued from here:

OK, we’ve looked at US GDP and US government revenues (taxes) so far. The general observation to make is that US taxes have broadly declined as a % of GDP in the past 60 years. This is particularly true of corporate income taxes, despite high headline tax rates. The corporate tax take (as a % of GDP) has declined almost 75% in the same period due to powerful lobbying, more aggressive domestic tax strategies and the booking of v significant profits in low tax overseas subsidiaries. In a global context, the total tax take in the US is among the lowest in the developed world.

So what about government spending..?! Put your gloves on, let’s dig into the guts:

US Economy, Government Finances & Debt – Some of the Gory Details (I)

Tags

% of world GDP, EU economy, Euro Area economy, US economy, US government finances, US taxes

US government finances (and the US economy):  Maybe I’m slow, but I just can’t get an accurate fix on what’s fact or fiction. Everything I read on the web, or hear from our so well informed media, seems to conflict or is agenda-driven, ill-informed or even just plain wrong. And, God forbid, I try my best to pay zero attention to anything emanating from a politician..!

I’ve reached the point where I really need a bit of a sanity check on all this. Why am I focusing on the US government (and economy)? Well, it’s the largest global economy by far, and it affects every one of us around the world in our daily lives (as the financial crisis illustrated in such a ghastly manner) – whither America goes, the rest of the world follows…