How Much Government?

On the Back Page feature of Parade Magazine, May 9, 2010, David Gergen has an article about government spending.  Here are some scary facts from that article:

• Public spending by federal, state, and local government was 24% of the GDP in 1950, 35% before the Great Depression, and could hit 44% this year. 
• The European Union has agreed that it is dangerous for a country to allow its publicly held debt to exceed 60% of its GDP.  The Congressional Budget Office says that the U.S. could hit 60% by the end of this year, and on it's current course could hit 100% by 2020.

 While inflation certainly plays a part in increased budgets, it should also play an equal part in the collection of taxes, as the value of property and goods purchased rises.  That seems like common sense, right?  So there must be another explanation as to why spending and debt have increased so much, and yet services, such as infrastructure maintenance, police and fire, parks and recreation, has declined markedly.  See my next post for one reason.