[BroJoeK]

"During this period, the feds were small, in the deep background of daily life, and hovered around 5% or so of the GDP."

Amazingly, Federal spending was even less than 5% of GDP.

1. 2% in 1792 under President Washington through Jefferson
2. 4% peak for War of 1812 under Madison
3. 2% from Monroe through Buchanan
4. 13% at peak of Civil War
5. 2% again by 1880s under Garfield/Arthur until
6. 4% for Spanish American War 1899
7. 2% again by 1903 until
8. 24% at peak of First World War

After WWI Federal spending remained around 4% until the Great Depression and New Deal, reaching nearly 50% in the Second World War, after which it never again returned to the old "normal".

Since WWII Federal spending has run over 20% of GDP.
In the 1950s over half was for national defense, today defense is barely 1/7 of the federal budget.
Statistics suggest the government overhead burden has been a serious drag on economic growth.

[Jim W N]

Great stats. Thanks.

Freedom defined as the absence of government coercion, a free America has always been a great America.

[Tax-chick]

It’s a really big country, especially when you get across the Mississippi, as Anoreth discovered when she drove from Seattle to Charlotte and back again.