On Oct 12, 2010, at 11:28 AM, Wojtek S wrote:
> According to BEA data
> http://www.bea.gov/national/nipaweb/SelectTable.asp?Selected=Y
> table 1.1.5
> government (fed, state & local) consumption expenditures and
> investment in 2009 were $2.9 trillion which is about 20% of GDP.
>
> What I find particularly annoying is that finding believable numbers
> on the internet takes about 5 minutes (it actually took me 40 seconds,
> but I already know where to look for them) so numerically literate
> people should have no problem verifying "facts" published that
> obviously looks like a right wing tabloid. Yet, the self-styled
> state-hating lefties like James Heartfield have no qualms of
> disseminating this right wing propaganda as long as it fits their
> anti-state ideology. Shame on you.
Ok, some detail. You're missing transfers (and other little things like interest). Summary, with major subcategories, as percent of GDP, for 2010Q2. "Consumption" includes wages of gov employees, since it's a purchase of a current service. Investment isn't considered "current" spending, since it's long-lived. Transfers aren't consumption or investment since they're a payment for which nothing (except acquiescence in the system, man) is gotten in return.
federal 27.0
consumption 7.1
transfers 15.9
investment 1.2 state/local 15.4
consumption 9.9
transfers 3.7
investment 2.3 total 42.4
consumption 17.0
transfers 19.6
investment 3.5