2012: Govt spending now porportionately lower than in some Reagan years.

Based on the recently released data from the CBO, in 2012, the Government spent the same or less, proportionate to GDP, than it did in several of the Reagan years.

In 2012, the Govt spent 3,540.0 billion compared to a 2dQ2012 GDP of $15,585.6. That is a spending rate of 22.7%.

Spending as a percentage of GDP in the Ronald Reagan years:

Year - Spending:GDP
1981 21.7%
1982 22.9%
1983 22.9%
1984 21.7%
1985 22.4%
1986 22.2%
1987 21.2%
1988 20.9%

Source data: CBO.gov BEA.gov.

That ties two of Reagan's years and is lower than two others.

As of 2012, it can no longer be said that Obama continues to be the biggest spender. Sratch another criticism off the conservatives' list.

 

Reagan, despite the rhetoric from those who idolize him, was a big spender. So this really doesn't surprise me at all, neither of them are economically conservative.

 

Why are the stats interesting, except for party politics? We'd naturally see government spending rising and falling according to the defensive position required to protect capitalism. Reaganomics was inefficient, it was military keynesianism after all. But such inefficiency suited the US economy

 

Mostly politics. Our right wing friends like to portray Obama as this big spender. Truth is, after a couple of years of the Great Recession, spending is proportionately lower than several years their idol Reagan was president.

 

Mostly politics. Our right wing friends like to portray Obama as this big spender. Truth is, after a couple of years of the Great Recession, spending is proportionately lower than several years their idol Reagan was president.

 

Hardly a surprise that those also came early in his term on the backs of a recession ushered in during the Carter administration coupled with ramping up spending to flex for the Russians.

At least you're honest enough to admit it's to reflects a partisan agenda. Obama is a big spender, that should be obvious when you have to contrast him to another big spender.

 

Our right wing friends are cretins. Its always good, in terms of plain speaking, to keep the bar high. Reaganomics shows the cultism within the right wing herd thought, as they ignore its Keynesian nature in order to sneeze incoherency. I've of course never bothered with elections and the marginalism inbvolved

 

Oh no, the two stupids make a smart argument.

 

Your opinion doesn't make it stupid.

What it does show are the different standards applied.

 

Any rational president, given the current situation, should be seen as such. Idiocy in control of capitalism should be tutted at (unless you're hopeful of paradigm change)!

 

then you have good company

 

so do you

 

Anything more than 18-20% of GDP taken by the Government is tyranny and must be stamped out ruthlessly. Regardless of what Reagan did.

I could give a (*)(*)(*)(*) less. I want to see the same 400 billion stripped from the hands of the poor just like Republicans gave 400 billion in defense spending cuts without a complaint.

I want to see Democrats agree to (*)(*)(*)(*) over the poor the exact same way Republicans agreed to (*)(*)(*)(*) over the defense department.

 

Why is 17.99% fine and 18% tyranny? What logic are you applying?

 

When was that?

No.

...........

 

The I don't give a (*)(*)(*)(*) about anything as long as I can pay less taxes logic.

 

The I don't give a (*)(*)(*)(*) about anything as long as I can pay less taxes logic.

 

Doesn't make it any less true, my problem is less with stimulus and more with how this one was conducted.

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It's (un?)fortunately beholden to the whims of democracy.

Seems arbitrary.

Sounds like you want to gut the middle class, ~15% live below poverty, that's those making less than $25k a year. So even if you taxed those people at 50% of all of their income you're still not at that $400B. If the military isn't somewhere you think cuts must be made if that's you're goal, then you're looking at a different budget than I am. Whether that's a possibility or not is another conversation entirely.

 

You're coming across as an empty hugger. The rest of your post was irrelevant after all. Put some effort in it and stop wasting my time with your natural urge towards twattishness

 

I think he twitilated your conbubulator.

 

Through most of American history the US Government usually never took more than 18-20% I want to see the US Government stripped down to the historical average and I don't give a (*)(*)(*)(*) who suffers from it. I know I sure as hell won't.

 

Remember democrat congress debt spent as Reagan ressurected the economy without war and led to technical advances that created the internet which is only reason clinton had good economy along with republican congress during clinton time. Krugman and other defamers are simply liars and quacks. Reagan miracle is simple austrian school economics which has disproven keynes politics long ago. Problem is government pays schools so government paid = reccomend more gov spending. remember government roads are created at 20x cost and paid by money taken from businesses and the employees of businesses

 

It wasn't the Democratic Congress that passed those big budget busting military spending increases.

It was the Republican Congress that did it along with a handful of "boll weevil" conservative Dems that voted with them on things like tax cuts and military buildups.

Calling the Reagan recovery "Austrian" is about the biggest stetch you could make. Reagan passed a huge stimulus of tax cuts and spending (mostly on the military) to drive a recovery that was about as Keynesian as you could get.

 

uh no
stop reading kugman he makes stuff up

 

wrong
mlitary is 20% of gdp and invents everything
tax n spend democrats still believe hey we will take your money and do better job of producing what you want than private firms
never works
remember government doesnt create it takes to give to cronies and then do projects at 20x cost
the idea of taking money and building a road at 20x cost than a private project and then claiming that government road made biz a success is silly