A Trillion Here, a Trillion There

0 Comments | Insight on the News, March 26, 2001 | by John Elvin

The federal government "will spend more money in just this single year than it spent combined from 1781 to 1900, even adjusted for inflation," according to a report from the Institute for Policy Innovation (IPI). The soon-to-be-issued report, The Most Expensive Government in World History by Stephen Moore, makes a number of observations that may not totally astonish anyone in this day of awesome numbers, but they certainly could raise the temperature of talk around the watercooler. Among them:

* In 1800, federal government spending equaled $20 per person. This year the figure was $6,500.

* In the 1920s, the federal government took 5 percent of national income. Today, it takes between 20 and 25 percent.

* In 1999, the average family paid about $27,200 in taxes. Just since the 1950s, the average household tax bill has increased fourfold in real terms.

"This year, the cost of government in America will reach a new milestone," according to Moore. "Federal, state and local spending for the first time in our history will exceed $3 trillion." He warned that France, Germany and Japan have reduced taxes to better compete with the United States and that "there is a direct correlation between government growth and diminished economic success." Moore said he thinks President Bush's call for reductions in spending comes "not a moment too soon."