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.
Featured
Latest work in Government Spending
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
The Trump Administration’s High-stakes Inflation Balancing Act | The Unseen and The Unsaid
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Serious Flaws Mean Healey’s Housing Plan Vastly Underestimates Our Needs | Banker & Tradesman
- | 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
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
The Unserious New Republican Budget Plan | Creators Syndicate
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Extend Trump’s 2017 Tax Cuts To Promote Growth, but Cut Spending Too | Los Angeles Times
- | 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
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Beware of the Tax Harmonizers | National Review
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
The Five Worst Things About the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau | Reason
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Radio Appearance Radio Appearance
DOGE Isn’t Sufficient for the Debt | CBS Radio
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
VATs Aren’t Discriminating Against American Companies – Tariffs Are | National Review
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
The Upside, Risks and Limits of DOGE | Creators Syndicate
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Temporary Cash Transfers Are a Poor Stimulus Tool | National Review
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
A New Course Is Needed for the Steel Industry | Civitas Institute
- | 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
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Personnel Is Policy: Hassett Brings Fiscal Responsibility to the White House | Creators Syndicate
- | 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
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Ideas Collide as Trump Lays Out a Pro-growth, Anti-trade Vision | Creators Syndicate
Latest work in Government Spending
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
The Trump Administration’s High-stakes Inflation Balancing Act | The Unseen and The Unsaid
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Serious Flaws Mean Healey’s Housing Plan Vastly Underestimates Our Needs | Banker & Tradesman
- | 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
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
The Unserious New Republican Budget Plan | Creators Syndicate
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | TV Appearance TV Appearance
The Truth About Wasteful Spending | No Spin News
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Extend Trump’s 2017 Tax Cuts To Promote Growth, but Cut Spending Too | Los Angeles Times
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Radio Appearance Radio Appearance
Eliminating Property Taxes and Rising Price of Gold | The Drew Mariani Show
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Beware of the Tax Harmonizers | National Review
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
The Five Worst Things About the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau | Reason
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
The Upside, Risks and Limits of DOGE | Creators Syndicate
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Radio Appearance Radio Appearance
DOGE Isn’t Sufficient for the Debt | CBS Radio
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
VATs Aren’t Discriminating Against American Companies – Tariffs Are | National Review
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Temporary Cash Transfers Are a Poor Stimulus Tool | National Review
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
A New Course Is Needed for the Steel Industry | Civitas Institute
- | 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
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Personnel Is Policy: Hassett Brings Fiscal Responsibility to the White House | Creators Syndicate
- | 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
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Ideas Collide as Trump Lays Out a Pro-growth, Anti-trade Vision | Creators Syndicate
Latest work in Government Spending
- | 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
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Policy Briefs Policy Briefs
Public Sector Pensions and the COVID-19 Shock
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Policy Briefs Policy Briefs
The Cost of COVID-19: A Rough Estimate of the 2020 US GDP Impact
Latest work in Government Spending
- | 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”
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Radio Appearance Radio Appearance
Regulation Costs 30% Extra | CBS Radio’s “Eye on the World with John Batchelor”
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Radio Appearance Radio Appearance
DOGE Can Work | CBS Radio’s Eye on the World with John Batchelor
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | TV Appearance TV Appearance
Paris Shifted the Worldview of Trump | Fox Business Network's Varney & Co.
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | TV Appearance TV Appearance
Federal Spending and DOGE | Washington Journal on C-SPAN
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | TV Appearance TV Appearance
Trump’s Destructive New Tariffs | CBS News Radio
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Radio Appearance Radio Appearance
FTC vs. Bigness | Eye on the World with John Batchelor
Latest work in Government Spending
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
The Trump Administration’s High-stakes Inflation Balancing Act | The Unseen and The Unsaid
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Serious Flaws Mean Healey’s Housing Plan Vastly Underestimates Our Needs | Banker & Tradesman
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
The Unserious New Republican Budget Plan | Creators Syndicate
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Extend Trump’s 2017 Tax Cuts To Promote Growth, but Cut Spending Too | Los Angeles Times
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Beware of the Tax Harmonizers | National Review
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
The Five Worst Things About the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau | Reason
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
VATs Aren’t Discriminating Against American Companies – Tariffs Are | National Review
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
The Upside, Risks and Limits of DOGE | Creators Syndicate
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Temporary Cash Transfers Are a Poor Stimulus Tool | National Review
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
A New Course Is Needed for the Steel Industry | Civitas Institute
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Personnel Is Policy: Hassett Brings Fiscal Responsibility to the White House | Creators Syndicate
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Ideas Collide as Trump Lays Out a Pro-growth, Anti-trade Vision | Creators Syndicate
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Abolish the CFPB | Reason
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
A New Era for Worker Freedom: Why Portable Benefits Matter | National Review
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
One More Reason To Hate Inflation | National Review
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Renewing Trump Tax Cuts Crucial to America’s Economic Strength | Creators Syndicate
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
The Only Path Leading All the Way Out of Our Inflation Quagmire | Creators Syndicate
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
To Rethink Government, DOGE Must Unshackle AI Within Government | National Review
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Will Fiscal Responsibility Now Become the Cornerstone of Economic Policy? | Creators Syndicate
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary