Government Spending
US public debt levels now exceed the size of the entire economy and are set to double by mid-century. Recent government spending has helped generate the largest surge in inflation in more than four decades. By showing that this surge will continue as long as policymakers fail to recognize its fiscal roots, Mercatus research endeavors to reignite and inform public debates on fiscal sustainability and entitlement reform.
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Latest work in Government Spending
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Policy Briefs Policy Briefs
Is the Federal Reserve Overstaffed or Overworked? Insights from the Fed’s Financial Statements
The Fed has gargantuan payrolls and building upgrades. Time for an external review.
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Radio Appearance Radio Appearance
Exiting Education Department | Eye on the World with John Batchelor
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Invest in Education, Not the Department of Education | Creators Syndicate
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
No One in Washington Is Serious About the Debt | National Review’s The Corner
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
The Tariff Fantasy: Why Do People Still Fall for It? | The Unseen and The Unsaid (Substack)
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Public Debt, Treasury Yields and Mortgages: Implications for Housing Affordability | The Unseen and The Unsaid (Substack)
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Is Trump's Trade War Causing a Recession? | Reason
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Radio Appearance Radio Appearance
Will Defense Spending Avoid the Scalpel Again? | Eye on the World with John Batchelor
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Podcast Appearance Podcast Appearance
The Latest Inflation Numbers | The Alan Nathan Show
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Will Defense Spending Avoid the Scalpel Again? | Creators Syndicate
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
MAGA’s Manufacturing Nostalgia | National Review
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Poor Ricardo | National Review
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
The Government Spending Multiplier: Less Bang for the Buck | The Unseen and The Unsaid (Substack)
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Working Papers Working Papers
The Government Spending Multiplier: A Survey of Empirical Literature
What do empirical studies tell us about the effect of government spending on economic output?
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
IRA Subsidies Distorted Capital Allocation and Created Shortages | The Unseen and The Unsaid (Substack)
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Radio Appearance Radio Appearance
Cutting Waste and Fixing Entitlements | The Rod and Greg Show
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
How Trump Is Ending Europe’s Sabotage of Our Prosperity | The Hill
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Trump's Tariff Playbook and Its Economic Contradictions | The Unseen and The Unsaid (Substack)
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Tracking DOGE Efforts To Shrink the Size of the Federal Workforce: February 2025 Update | The Unseen and The Unsaid (Substack)
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Radio Appearance Radio Appearance
DOGE: What Would Milton Friedman Do? | Eye on the World with John Batchelor
Latest work in Government Spending
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Policy Briefs Policy Briefs
Is the Federal Reserve Overstaffed or Overworked? Insights from the Fed’s Financial Statements
The Fed has gargantuan payrolls and building upgrades. Time for an external review.
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Radio Appearance Radio Appearance
Exiting Education Department | Eye on the World with John Batchelor
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Invest in Education, Not the Department of Education | Creators Syndicate
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
No One in Washington Is Serious About the Debt | National Review’s The Corner
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
The Tariff Fantasy: Why Do People Still Fall for It? | The Unseen and The Unsaid (Substack)
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Public Debt, Treasury Yields and Mortgages: Implications for Housing Affordability | The Unseen and The Unsaid (Substack)
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Is Trump's Trade War Causing a Recession? | Reason
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Radio Appearance Radio Appearance
Will Defense Spending Avoid the Scalpel Again? | Eye on the World with John Batchelor
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Podcast Appearance Podcast Appearance
The Latest Inflation Numbers | The Alan Nathan Show
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Will Defense Spending Avoid the Scalpel Again? | Creators Syndicate
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
MAGA’s Manufacturing Nostalgia | National Review
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Poor Ricardo | National Review
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
The Government Spending Multiplier: Less Bang for the Buck | The Unseen and The Unsaid (Substack)
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Working Papers Working Papers
The Government Spending Multiplier: A Survey of Empirical Literature
What do empirical studies tell us about the effect of government spending on economic output?
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
IRA Subsidies Distorted Capital Allocation and Created Shortages | The Unseen and The Unsaid (Substack)
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Radio Appearance Radio Appearance
Cutting Waste and Fixing Entitlements | The Rod and Greg Show
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
How Trump Is Ending Europe’s Sabotage of Our Prosperity | The Hill
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Trump's Tariff Playbook and Its Economic Contradictions | The Unseen and The Unsaid (Substack)
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Tracking DOGE Efforts To Shrink the Size of the Federal Workforce: February 2025 Update | The Unseen and The Unsaid (Substack)
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Radio Appearance Radio Appearance
DOGE: What Would Milton Friedman Do? | Eye on the World with John Batchelor
Latest work in Government Spending
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Policy Briefs Policy Briefs
Is the Federal Reserve Overstaffed or Overworked? Insights from the Fed’s Financial Statements
The Fed has gargantuan payrolls and building upgrades. Time for an external review.
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Working Papers Working Papers
The Government Spending Multiplier: A Survey of Empirical Literature
What do empirical studies tell us about the effect of government spending on economic output?
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Policy Briefs Policy Briefs
Fiscal Policy and Inflation Control: Insights from the COVID Economic Response
As the COVID inflation shows, the US government must nurture expectations for fiscal policy—and not rely on monetary policy alone—if it is to maintain control over inflation in the future.
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Research Papers Research Papers
Beyond Dynamic Scoring: Enhancing CBO’s Evaluation of Program Integrity Spending
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Policy Briefs Policy Briefs
Social Security Needs Fixing, Tax Increases on Savings Are Not the Solution
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Research Papers Research Papers
A Fiscal Accounting of COVID Inflation
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Policy Briefs Policy Briefs
Fiscal Dominance: How Worried Should We Be?
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Policy Briefs Policy Briefs
Funding Parental Leave Today with Tomorrow’s Social Security Benefits Won’t Work
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Research Papers Research Papers
Why We Have Federal Deficits: An Updated Analysis
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Policy Briefs Policy Briefs
Keynesian Stimulus: A Virtuous Semicircle?
- | Monetary Policy Monetary Policy
- | Policy Briefs Policy Briefs
The Economic Situation, June 2021
- | Healthcare Healthcare
- | Policy Briefs Policy Briefs
Understanding CBO’s Medicare for All Cost Estimates
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Policy Briefs Policy Briefs
The Economic Situation, March 2021
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Policy Briefs Policy Briefs
Recent Trends in US Highway and Bridge Conditions
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Research Papers Research Papers
An Analysis of Connecticut’s Public Employee Retirement Plans
- | Corporate Welfare Corporate Welfare
- | Research Papers Research Papers
An Interstate Compact to End the Economic Development Subsidy Arms Race
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Research Papers Research Papers
Flattening the Debt Curve: Empirical Lessons for Fiscal Consolidation
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Journal Articles Journal Articles
Does Census Hiring Stimulate Jobs Growth?
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Policy Briefs Policy Briefs
No More State and Local Government Bailouts
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Policy Briefs Policy Briefs
Debt and Growth: A Decade of Studies
Latest work in Government Spending
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Radio Appearance Radio Appearance
Exiting Education Department | Eye on the World with John Batchelor
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Radio Appearance Radio Appearance
Will Defense Spending Avoid the Scalpel Again? | Eye on the World with John Batchelor
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Podcast Appearance Podcast Appearance
The Latest Inflation Numbers | The Alan Nathan Show
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Radio Appearance Radio Appearance
Cutting Waste and Fixing Entitlements | The Rod and Greg Show
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Radio Appearance Radio Appearance
DOGE: What Would Milton Friedman Do? | Eye on the World with John Batchelor
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Radio Appearance Radio Appearance
DOGE in DC – What Congress Must Do | CBS Radio’s “Eye on the World with John Batchelor”
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Radio Appearance Radio Appearance
150-year-olds Are Not Receiving Social Security Payments | Marketplace Radio
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Radio Appearance Radio Appearance
DOGE Rebate and the Debt | CBS Radio’s “Eye on the World with John Batchelor”
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | TV Appearance TV Appearance
The Truth About Wasteful Spending | No Spin News
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Radio Appearance Radio Appearance
Eliminating Property Taxes and Rising Price of Gold | The Drew Mariani Show
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Radio Appearance Radio Appearance
DOGE Isn’t Sufficient for the Debt | CBS Radio
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Radio Appearance Radio Appearance
Fraud and Error Payments in Entitlements | CBS Radio’s Eye on the World
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Radio Appearance Radio Appearance
What Is a Sovereign Wealth Fund and Why Did Trump Sign an Order Saying We Need One? | The Lars Larson Show
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Radio Appearance Radio Appearance
Tariffs Are Not Inflationary | CBS Radio
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Radio Appearance Radio Appearance
President Trump’s Tax Cuts and Elon Musk’s DOGE | The Morning Drive with Casey & Elliott
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Radio Appearance Radio Appearance
All Eyes on the Contested 2017 Tax Cut and Jobs Act | Eye on the World with John Batchelor
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Radio Appearance Radio Appearance
Government Spending Is Sticky Inflation | CBS Radio's Eye on the World
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Podcast Appearance Podcast Appearance
Fiscal Responsibility and the 2017 Tax Cut | Eye on the World
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | TV Appearance TV Appearance
Where the Economy Stands at the End of the Biden Administration | CNBC’s “Squawk Box”
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | TV Appearance TV Appearance
The Trump Economy: What To Expect in 2025 | CNBC’s “Squawk Box”
Latest work in Government Spending
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Public Interest Comments Public Interest Comments
Response to Request for Information on Supporting Flexible Work and Independent Contractors through Universal Savings Accounts
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Federal Testimonies Federal Testimonies
Child Savings Accounts Are Not the Best Way to Help Low-Income Families Save
US Senate Committee on Finance | Child Savings Accounts and Other Tax-Advantaged Accounts Benefiting American Children
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Federal Testimonies Federal Testimonies
The Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offset
Statement of Charles P. Blahous Before the Social Security Subcommittee of the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Federal Testimonies Federal Testimonies
Improving CBO Projections
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Federal Testimonies Federal Testimonies
Investing in the Future: Safeguarding Municipal Bonds from Climate Risk
Written Statement of Eric M. Leeper to the Committee on the Budget of the United States Senate
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Federal Testimonies Federal Testimonies
"Bidenomics" Is Not the Solution to Helping Low Income Americans
US Senate Committee on the Budget | Reducing Inequality, Fueling Growth: How Public Investment Promotes Prosperity for All
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Federal Testimonies Federal Testimonies
Spending Growth, Not Tax Policy, Is the Main Driver of Federal Debt
US Senate Committee on the Budget | The Rich Get Richer, Deficits Get Bigger: How Tax Cuts for the Wealthy and Corporations Drive the National Debt
- | Corporate Welfare Corporate Welfare
- | State Testimonies State Testimonies
An Interstate Compact to End Company-Specific Subsidies
Testimony before the Illinois General Assembly, House Revenue and Finance Committee
- | Corporate Welfare Corporate Welfare
- | State Testimonies State Testimonies
Ending Nondisclosure Agreements Would Reduce Subsidy Waste
Testimony before the Illinois General Assembly, House Revenue and Finance Committee
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Public Interest Comments Public Interest Comments
Project No. 3-20 Proposed Changes May Obscure Government Fiscal Health
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Public Interest Comments Public Interest Comments
Poor Americans Will Suffer from a Paid Leave Mandate
- | Corporate Welfare Corporate Welfare
- | Federal Testimonies Federal Testimonies
Congress Should Reflect on Past Financial Relief Before Providing More
Testimony before the US Senate, Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Public Interest Comments Public Interest Comments
Comments on the Ex-Im Bank's Proposed Additionality Criteria
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Public Interest Comments Public Interest Comments
Comments on the Ex-Im Bank's Current Economic Impact Procedures
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Public Interest Comments Public Interest Comments
Comments on the Ex-Im Bank's Proposed Additionality Criteria
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | State Testimonies State Testimonies
Pennsylvania's Fiscal Health: Current Status and Recommendations for Improvement
Testimony before the York County, Pennsylvania Legislative Delegation
- | Academic & Student Programs Academic & Student Programs
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Federal Testimonies Federal Testimonies
How to Make the BLS Better
Testimony before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Federal Testimonies Federal Testimonies
Curbing Wasteful Year-End Federal Government Spending: Reforming "Use It or Lose It" Rules
Testimony before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Federal Testimonies Federal Testimonies
The Need for Constitutional Budget Reform
Testimony before the House Committee on the Judiciary
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Public Interest Comments Public Interest Comments
Response to Presidential Memorandum on Fiduciary Duty Rule
Latest work in Government Spending
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Invest in Education, Not the Department of Education | Creators Syndicate
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
No One in Washington Is Serious About the Debt | National Review’s The Corner
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
The Tariff Fantasy: Why Do People Still Fall for It? | The Unseen and The Unsaid (Substack)
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Public Debt, Treasury Yields and Mortgages: Implications for Housing Affordability | The Unseen and The Unsaid (Substack)
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Is Trump's Trade War Causing a Recession? | Reason
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Will Defense Spending Avoid the Scalpel Again? | Creators Syndicate
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
MAGA’s Manufacturing Nostalgia | National Review
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Poor Ricardo | National Review
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
The Government Spending Multiplier: Less Bang for the Buck | The Unseen and The Unsaid (Substack)
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
IRA Subsidies Distorted Capital Allocation and Created Shortages | The Unseen and The Unsaid (Substack)
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
How Trump Is Ending Europe’s Sabotage of Our Prosperity | The Hill
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Trump's Tariff Playbook and Its Economic Contradictions | The Unseen and The Unsaid (Substack)
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Tracking DOGE Efforts To Shrink the Size of the Federal Workforce: February 2025 Update | The Unseen and The Unsaid (Substack)
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Grappling With DOGE: Why Cutting Waste and Fixing Entitlements Are Both Essential | Creators Syndicate
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
The Right Way to Renew TCJA: Smarter Cuts, Fewer Gimmicks | National Review
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
This Administration Cares a Lot About the Wrong Deficit | The Unseen and The Unsaid (Substack)
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
How Would Milton Friedman Do DOGE? | Reason
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Trump Needs Congress to Deliver on Lower Prices | Creators Syndicate
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Tracking DOGE Efforts To Shrink the Size of the Federal Workforce | The Unseen and The Unsaid (Substack)
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary