Government | Charts

Projections of U.S. Public Debt Continue to Accelerate

Veronique de Rugy | Oct 08, 2012
The U.S. is slipping down an unsustainable fiscal path at a much faster rate than before. This unforeseen acceleration in the public debt is important because high levels of debt can have a negative impact on the economy.

Growth in U.S. Export-Import Bank Authorizations

Veronique de Rugy | Apr 16, 2012
The Ex-Im Bank’s facade of boosting exports and creating jobs is not well supported by its own data. The actual effect of the bank’s activity is the creation of perverse incentives, moral hazards, and inefficient outcomes that has become a fund for corporate welfare. It is worth questioning whether the United States, with mounting debt problems and the possible expiration of the Ex-Im Bank’s reauthorization, needs yet another agency to subsidize companies with taxpayers picking up the tab.

The Small Business Administration: What Cost to Taxpayers?

Veronique de Rugy | Apr 02, 2012
Small Business Administration (SBA) advocates routinely argue that the agency is economical. With the exception of the past few years, budget requests for the SBA have been consistently lower than $1 billion. Yet budget requests reveal much about the final cost of a program.

Debt Grows at a Faster Rate Than Economy for Foreseeable Future

Veronique de Rugy | Mar 05, 2012
For the first time in U.S. history, the annual growth rate of debt is projected to remain above the growth of the economy for more than a decade.

Disaster Aid Spending: FEMA’s Track Record

Veronique de Rugy | Sep 19, 2011
This chart tracks disaster aid spending by the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Disaster Relief Fund (DRF).

Most Fiscal Reforms Fail to Lower Debt-to-GDP Ratio

Economists have identified a number of other instances in which wealthy, industrialized nations have taken on dangerous levels of national debt and have attempted reform.

Defense and Non-Defense Spending Programs Squeezed as Autopilot Programs and Debt Interest Explode

Veronique de Rugy | Mar 21, 2011
This chart plots the projected change in the composition of federal spending from 2010 to 2084; the proportion of federal spending under lawmakers’ control collapses over time.

Structural Deficits

America Worse Than Greece
Veronique de Rugy | Jun 14, 2010
This chart by Mercatus Center senior research fellow Veronique de Rugy uses data from the International Monetary Fund’s Cross-Country Fiscal Monitor to compare projected 2010 structural deficits…

Long-Term Trend

Wage Redistribution Increases
Veronique de Rugy | May 24, 2010
This chart examines the change in the composition of personal income in the United States since 1929. The most notable trend is the increase in the portion of personal income coming from government…

Social Security in Cash Flow Deficit

6 Years Ahead
Veronique de Rugy | Apr 12, 2010
This chart compares the Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO’s) projections for the end of year balance of Social Security accounts from 2008 and 2009.