>On Sun, Feb 24, 2002 at 07:28:33PM -0800, Brad DeLong wrote:
>>
>> And there is a certain... bizarreness... in the belief that social
>> provisions became less "generous" after 1973... The average OECD
>> government collected 30% of GDP in taxes in 1965 and spent about 7%
>> of that on the military, leaving government civilian spending at 23%
>> of GDP. The average OECD government collects about 43% of GDP in
>> taxes today, and spends about 3% of that on the military.
>>
>> There have been important changes in surveillance by the state, in
>> the generational distribution of benefit programs, in economic
>> regulation, and other areas. But the fact that the typical OECD
>> government spent 23% of GDP on domestic programs in 1965 and 40%
>> today should not be forgotten.
> >
> > Brad DeLong
>
>Are aggregate numbers all that informative in estimating generosity?
>Would cutting welfare and building prisons instead constitute a
>change in
>generosity?
Also, if a larger proportion of GDP is now spent on domestic programs than in 1965, isn't it because the OECD nations' populations are today older than before and aggregate expenditures on old age pension and health care have risen in keeping with the aging of the populations? -- Yoshie
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