FEDERAL SPENDING

Here are two expanded charts on federal spending by president. The first shows spending before subtracting the national debt service costs, and the second one shows spending after. The methodology for deriving these charts is discussed below.

Year   Federal spending    % increase from   Inflation rate   Rate of real

          (in $bil)         previous year       year T-1        increase



Nixon

1969:       183.6               -----            -----           -----

1970:       195.6                6.5%             5.5%            0.9%

1971:       210.2                7.5%             5.7%            1.7%

1972:       230.7                9.8%             4.4%            5.2%

1973:       245.7                6.5%             3.2%            3.2%

1974:       269.4                9.6%             6.2%            3.2%

1975:       332.3               23.3%            11.0%           11.1%



  Nixon total:                  81.0%            41.7%           27.7%

  Nixon average:                                                  4.2%



Ford

1976:       371.8               11.9%             9.1%            2.6%

1977:       409.2               10.1%             5.8%            4.1%



  Ford total:                   23.1%            15.4%            6.7%

  Ford average:                                                   3.3%



Carter

1978:       458.7               12.1%             6.5%            5.3%

1979:       504.0                9.9%             7.6%            2.1%

1980:       590.9               17.2%            11.3%            5.3%

1981:       678.2               14.8%            13.5%            1.1%



  Carter total:                 65.7%            44.8%           14.4%

  Carter average:                                                 3.4%



Reagan

1982:       745.8               10.0%            10.3%           -0.3%

1983:       808.4                8.4%             6.2%            2.1%

1984:       851.8                5.4%             3.2%            2.1%

1985:       946.4               11.1%             4.3%            6.5%

1986:       990.3                4.6%             3.6%            1.0%

1987:      1003.9                1.4%             1.9%           -0.5%

1988:      1064.1                6.0%             3.6%            2.3%

1989:      1143.2                7.4%             4.1%            3.2%



  Reagan total 1982-87:         48.0%            33.0%           11.3% 

  Reagan average 1982-87:                                         1.8%



  Reagan total:                 68.6%            43.6%           17.4%

  Reagan average:                                                 2.0%



Bush

1990:      1252.5                9.6%             4.8%            4.6%

1991:      1323.6                5.7%             5.4%            0.3%

1992:      1380.9                4.3%             4.2%            0.1%

1993:      1408.7                2.0%             3.0%           -1.0%



  Bush total:                   23.2%            18.6%            3.9%

  Bush average:                                                   1.0%



Clinton

1994:      1460.8                3.7%             3.0%            0.7%

1995:      1519.1                4.0%             2.6%            1.4%



  Clinton average:                                                1.0%





Year   Federal spending    % increase from   Inflation rate   Rate of real

       (- debt service)     previous year       year T-1        increase

           (in $bil)



Nixon

1969:       170.9               -----            -----           -----

1970:       181.3                6.1%             5.5%            0.6%

1971:       195.3                7.7%             5.7%            1.9%

1972:       215.2                9.2%             4.4%            4.6%

1973:       228.4                6.1%             3.2%            2.8%

1974:       247.9                8.5%             6.2%            2.2%

1975:       309.1               24.7%            11.0%           12.3%



  Nixon total:                  80.9%            41.7%           27.7%

  Nixon average:                                                  4.2%



Ford

1976:       345.1               11.6%             9.1%            2.3%

1977:       379.3                9.9%             5.8%            3.9%



  Ford total:                   22.7%            15.4%            6.3%

  Ford average:                                                   3.1%



Carter

1978:       423.3               11.6%             6.5%            4.8%

1979:       461.4                9.0%             7.6%            1.3%

1980:       538.4               16.7%            11.3%            4.8%

1981:       609.5               13.2%            13.5%           -0.3%



  Carter total:                 60.7%            44.8%           11.0%

  Carter average:                                                 2.6%



Reagan

1982:       660.7                8.4%            10.3%           -1.7%

1983:       718.6                8.8%             6.2%            2.4%

1984:       740.7                3.1%             3.2%           -0.1%

1985:       816.9               10.3%             4.3%            5.7%

1986:       854.3                4.6%             3.6%            1.0%

1987:       865.3                1.3%             1.9%           -0.6%

1988:       912.3                5.2%             3.6%            1.5%

1989:       973.9                6.8%             4.1%            2.5%



  Reagan total 1982-87:         42.0%            33.0%            6.7% 

  Reagan average 1982-87:                                         1.1%



  Reagan total:                 59.8%            43.6%           11.3%

  Reagan average:                                                 1.3%



Bush

1990:      1068.3                9.7%             4.8%            4.7%

1991:      1129.1                5.7%             5.4%            0.3%

1992:      1181.4                4.6%             4.2%            0.4%

1993:      1209.9                2.4%             3.0%           -0.6%



  Bush total:                   24.2%            18.6%            4.8%

  Bush average:                                                   1.2%



Clinton

1994:      1257.8                4.0%             3.0%            0.9%

1995:      1287.0                2.3%             2.6%           -0.3%



  Clinton total:                 6.4%             5.6%            0.8%

  Clinton average:                                                0.4%

Return to Overview
____________________
These charts were prepared by Steve Casburn, an econometrician from Ohio State University. He writes:

"The federal spending numbers come from the Historical Charts of the Budget for FY1997, the percentage increase was calculated from those numbers, the inflation rate (CPI-U) comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the rate of real increase was calculated by dividing the rate of inflation into the increase in the budget (for example, for 1970: 1.065 / 1.055 = 1.00947; a 0.9% increase.)

"(The reason why I used the inflation rate from the year before the budget year is because the previous year's inflation is what Congress and the Administration are dealing with when they set the baselines for the year. Using the concurrent rate of inflation leads to some remarkably divergent data points!)

"The administration totals are derived by comparing the last year to the base year (not by adding percentages!); the administration averages are compound averages of the totals."