6/18/2023 0 Comments Complete ear trainer![]() Many people seem to think that taxes were cut in the 1980s, perhaps because certain politicians worked hard to create the impression and to take credit for it. Over the past 40 years the tax proportion has drifted irregularly upward, and now stands at about 32 percent of GNP By 1950, revenues had risen to 24 percent of GNP. In the early years of the 20th century, federal, state, and local governments took in revenues equal to 6 to 7 percent of the gross national product (GNP). One dimension of government is the burden of taxation. The size of government can change in different dimensions, many of them incommensurable. When we say that government has grown, what do we mean? Government is not a single thing, measurable along a scale like inches of height or pounds of weight. In the United States, we entered this stage a long time ago. Beyond a point, however, bigger government begins to cut into our liberties then the growth of government becomes synonymous with the sacrifice of liberty. The size and scope of government determine-they are, so to speak, the opposite side of-our freedoms.Īll but the few anarchists among us recognize that effective liberty requires some government, if only to define and protect rights to life and property. Governments determine the very nature of our political economy, the character of the social organization within which we may lawfully conduct our affairs and pursue our goals. By virtue of their taxing, spending, and regulating, governments affect the allocation of economic resources, the distribution of wealth, and the rate of economic growth. The size and scope of government are important for many reasons. If the founders could see what has happened to the relation between the citizens and the government in the United States during the past two centuries, they would be appalled. But they did believe that rulers ought to be restrained and accountable to the people they govern. ![]() They were not anarchists nor did they espouse laissez faire. Our nation was founded by men who believed in limited government, especially limited central government. Over the past decade, as over the past century, American government has continued to grow. But the thing itself has not disappeared. Lately the topic has attracted less attention from politicians, commentators, and scholars. Big government-we heard a lot about it when Ronald Reagan was first seeking the Presidency.
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