Update: I wonder what percentage of the population is aware of how high the highest tax brackets were from the 50s until Reagan in the 80s.
Showing posts with label Fiscal policy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fiscal policy. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Tax brackets
Dshort.com has a graph of tax brackets through the years, superimposed with a budget deficit graph:
Update: I wonder what percentage of the population is aware of how high the highest tax brackets were from the 50s until Reagan in the 80s.
Update: I wonder what percentage of the population is aware of how high the highest tax brackets were from the 50s until Reagan in the 80s.
Friday, August 14, 2009
Military spending, in historical perspective
I came across usgovernmentspending.com that allows you to generate historical charts of government expenditures. (You can view the data in actual dollars or inflation-adjusted dollars or percentage of GDP by changing the units.)
Here is a graph of military spending using inflation-adjusted dollars (and a link to it and the underlying data):
I went looking for the data because a Facebook friend of a friend claimed that the drop in military spending as a percentage of GDP during Clinton's administration was the cause of 9/11. Ew boy. For starters, it should be obvious that our external threats are what they are regardless of GDP, so I don't get why you'd look to percent-of-GDP data to make the case that the spending was insufficient (or sufficient) to keep the country safe from attack. Further, military spending at the end of Clinton's term was still historically plenty high. Does anyone writing here believe that the drop in military spending under Clinton allowed 9/11 to happen or caused 9/11? I hope not.
Setting all that aside, I have to say that as I looked at this chart I was amazed at the extreme increase in military spending since 2001 relative to historical levels. I'm curious to know whether those who believe the Iraq war was a good idea also feel that the benefit you see is commensurate with these costs. In other words, was our takeover of Iraq as important as our role in WWII? Was it far more important than the Cold War?
Here is a graph of military spending using inflation-adjusted dollars (and a link to it and the underlying data):
I went looking for the data because a Facebook friend of a friend claimed that the drop in military spending as a percentage of GDP during Clinton's administration was the cause of 9/11. Ew boy. For starters, it should be obvious that our external threats are what they are regardless of GDP, so I don't get why you'd look to percent-of-GDP data to make the case that the spending was insufficient (or sufficient) to keep the country safe from attack. Further, military spending at the end of Clinton's term was still historically plenty high. Does anyone writing here believe that the drop in military spending under Clinton allowed 9/11 to happen or caused 9/11? I hope not.
Setting all that aside, I have to say that as I looked at this chart I was amazed at the extreme increase in military spending since 2001 relative to historical levels. I'm curious to know whether those who believe the Iraq war was a good idea also feel that the benefit you see is commensurate with these costs. In other words, was our takeover of Iraq as important as our role in WWII? Was it far more important than the Cold War?
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