Government Spending as a Percent of GDP from 1952-2011

An updated table of data I have posted earlier. Yellow (state/local consumption/investment) + Blue (federal consumption/investment) = Green (total) as a percent of GDP, data from Federal Reserve, June 2012. Red dotted line is total tax revenue as percent of GDP, data from OMB, June 2012.

Notice that there has been relatively little change in government spending as a % of GDP since the 1950s. Total government spending has remained between 17%-24%, with the lowest levels during that period under Clinton (1998, 17.4%), and the highest under Truman (1953, 23.9%) and Kennedy (1967, 23.1%). As of 2011 we are at 20.1%.

Similarly, tax revenues as a % of GDP have been relatively unchanged. The highest levels of tax revenue have also been under Bush Jr (2000, 20.6%), and the lowest under Obama (2009, 15.1%).