Conventional measures of the size and growth of government often understate what they purport to measure. As government spending grows, government spending relative to gross domestic product tends to decelerate because government spending enters into both the ratio’s numerator and its denominator; and government employment relative to total employment suffers similar and additional flaws.

Robert Higgs is Retired Senior Fellow in Political Economy, Founding Editor and former Editor at Large of The Independent Review.
EconomyFiscal Policy/DebtGovernment and PoliticsGovernment PowerGovernment Waste/Pork
Other Independent Review articles by Robert Higgs
Fall 2019 Pressure-Release Valves in Participatory Fascism
Winter 2018/19 Two Worlds: Politics and Everything Else
Fall 2018 Against the Whole Concept and Construction of the Balance of International Payments
[View All (62)]