Wojtek
On Tue, Oct 12, 2010 at 12:55 PM, Doug Henwood <dhenwood at panix.com> wrote:
>
> 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
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