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While defense spending is the most egregious, governmental budgets are inflated across the board in the US. For instance, the US spends far more per capita on i

While defense spending is the most egregious, governmental budgets are inflated across the board in the US. For instance, the US spends far more per capita on infrastructure and education than other industrialized countries, for at best comparable (and often worse) results. I wonder how much of this is due to the US’s unique ability to essentially endlessly deficit spend. If the supply of governmental funding is effectively infinite, there is absolutely nothing controlling costs.

afterburner 3y ago
> US’s unique ability to essentially endlessly deficit spend This is not unique to the US, nor even unique to countries. Almost all countries deficit spend endlessly, which is fine as long as it's offset by economic growth. And that deficit spending can speed up that economic growth. The US's uniqueness is being massively wealthy, so its deficits are bigger.
- MontyCarloHall 3y ago
  The US has the fourth highest debt:GDP ratio amongst OECD countries; only Japan, Greece, and Italy are higher, whose high debts are mainly due to severe economic problems, and are not offset by growth. The US is unique in that (thus far) its massive deficit spending has been offset by growth, although it remains to be seen how long that’s sustainable.
  - jeffbee 3y ago
    Debt to GDP is a useless metric. The US has a uniquely low interest on its debt. Interest payments as a fraction of GDP are less than 2%, in the middle of the post-War range of 1.1 to 3.2% of GDP.
    - mdorazio 3y ago
      Where are you getting 2% ? I’m seeing much higher: https://tradingeconomics.com/country-list/interest-payments-percent-of-revenue-wb-data.html https://tradingeconomics.com/country-list/interest-payments-...
      - jeffbee 3y ago
        That's as a fraction of revenue which is distorted due to our fragmented federal system and relatively low national tax rates. Interest as a fraction of GDP is https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/FYOIGDA188S https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/FYOIGDA188S If you had gone to the primary source of the data in your link you would have seen the prominent limitation, to wit: "Because budgetary accounts may not include all central government units (such as social security funds), they usually provide an incomplete picture. In federal states the central government accounts provide an incomplete view of total public finance."
        mdorazio 3y ago
        Ok, but then how can you compare that to other countries to say the US is higher/lower? I haven't been able to find a unified source of raw interest payments by country (not as a % of revenue).
  - afterburner 3y ago
    > The US is unique in that (thus far) its massive deficit spending has been offset by growth That's not unique either. The UK had massive debts in its history but outgrew them. Or were you not considering history?
Symmetry 3y ago
A few reasons. The US was very corrupt back before the Progressive Era and to clean that up in a hurry we got a bunch of very prescriptive rules around procurement that prevent the use of common sense and make bidding for government contracts a hard to master skill that reduces competition. We have a federal structure and use a common law framework so the interaction of law, precedent, and agency rules create a confusing thicket of regulation that's hard to deal with. Finally, outsourcing of planning to consultants means frequent shifts in direction and makes it harder to exercise control over costs.

afterburner 3y ago

> US’s unique ability to essentially endlessly deficit spend This is not unique to the US, nor even unique to countries. Almost all countries deficit spend endlessly, which is fine as long as it's offset by economic growth. And that deficit spending can speed up that economic growth. The US's uniqueness is being massively wealthy, so its deficits are bigger.

MontyCarloHall 3y ago
The US has the fourth highest debt:GDP ratio amongst OECD countries; only Japan, Greece, and Italy are higher, whose high debts are mainly due to severe economic problems, and are not offset by growth. The US is unique in that (thus far) its massive deficit spending has been offset by growth, although it remains to be seen how long that’s sustainable.
- jeffbee 3y ago
  Debt to GDP is a useless metric. The US has a uniquely low interest on its debt. Interest payments as a fraction of GDP are less than 2%, in the middle of the post-War range of 1.1 to 3.2% of GDP.
  - mdorazio 3y ago
    Where are you getting 2% ? I’m seeing much higher: https://tradingeconomics.com/country-list/interest-payments-percent-of-revenue-wb-data.html https://tradingeconomics.com/country-list/interest-payments-...
    - jeffbee 3y ago
      That's as a fraction of revenue which is distorted due to our fragmented federal system and relatively low national tax rates. Interest as a fraction of GDP is https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/FYOIGDA188S https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/FYOIGDA188S If you had gone to the primary source of the data in your link you would have seen the prominent limitation, to wit: "Because budgetary accounts may not include all central government units (such as social security funds), they usually provide an incomplete picture. In federal states the central government accounts provide an incomplete view of total public finance."
      - mdorazio 3y ago
        Ok, but then how can you compare that to other countries to say the US is higher/lower? I haven't been able to find a unified source of raw interest payments by country (not as a % of revenue).
- afterburner 3y ago
  > The US is unique in that (thus far) its massive deficit spending has been offset by growth That's not unique either. The UK had massive debts in its history but outgrew them. Or were you not considering history?

Symmetry 3y ago

A few reasons. The US was very corrupt back before the Progressive Era and to clean that up in a hurry we got a bunch of very prescriptive rules around procurement that prevent the use of common sense and make bidding for government contracts a hard to master skill that reduces competition. We have a federal structure and use a common law framework so the interaction of law, precedent, and agency rules create a confusing thicket of regulation that's hard to deal with. Finally, outsourcing of planning to consultants means frequent shifts in direction and makes it harder to exercise control over costs.