March 3, 2010
Graph of the Day for March 3, 2010
"The view of a minimalist federal government during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries was likely based on a strict interpretation of the Constitution... The government expanded in the 1930s for two reasons: First, its source of funds had increased with passage of the Sixteenth Amendment.... The second reason was a national ideological shift toward greater government. This shift was reflected by, and perhaps motivated by, the writings of Karl Marx and Henry George in the mid-1800s and later by women's increased participation in the electoral process."
Thomas A. Garrett et al, in Institutions and Government Growth: A Comparison of the 1890s and the 1930s, St. Louis Federal Reserve review article, 2010.
Source: Thomas A. Garrett et al, St. Louis Federal Reserve.
Hoven's Index for March 3, 2010
Per capita real (inflation adjusted) annual federal government spending:
From 1792 to 1929: $125
In 1930: $250
In 2007: $9,200
Federal government spending as % of GDP in 1929: 3%
In 2009: 24%
Federal income taxes (as % of individual income) in 1912: 0%
In 1913: 1% to 7%
In 1932: 4% to 63%
Source: Thomas A. Garrett et al, St. Louis Federal Reserve.
Graph of the Day Archive.