The United States government spending, including federal, state and local, now accounts for 45.9% of Gross Domestic Production (GDP), the highest level since the founding of the republic excluding last year when it crossed 50%.
The federal government itself spent more than $5.7 trillion this 2021 according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), while state and local governments spend $3.7 trillion, the Census of Governments for 2017 data shows.
That makes it a combined nearly $10 trillion out of a GDP of $20.9 trillion, showing the United States currently has the biggest government ever in its entire history.
Other countries have it worse. France, even before the extraordinary spending of last year, accounted for 55% of its GDP in 2019.
The United Kingdom as of then was above 40% according to OECD as pictured above. USA was a close 38.3%.
This compares to the United States government spending accounting for just 10% of the GDP even during the second world war in the 1940s. It increases to 20% in the 50s with it only increasing, doubling since.
‘Communist’ China in contrast was at 34% of the GDP in 2019. It increased a bit to 37% in 2020, while US government spending crossed 50%.
This incredible share of economic activity shows there has never been a time when the government has so much say on what we do, on what we produce, and where we work.
Source: https://www.trustnodes.com/2021/11/06/us-government-spending-nears-50-of-gdp
