For most of the past several decades, federal spending has hovered within a few percentage points above or below 20%. In fiscal 2016, total federal outlays were 21.5% of gross domestic product, or GDP. economy, which provides a consistent frame of reference over long periods. It can be helpful to look at spending as a share of the overall U.S.
Everything else – crop subsidies, space travel, highway repairs, national parks, foreign aid and much, much more – accounted for the remaining 6%. Education aid and related social services were about $114 billion, or less than 3% of all federal spending. Another $604 billion, or 15.3% of total spending, went for national defense net interest payments on government debt was about $240 billion, or 6.1%. 30, the federal government spent just under $4 trillion, and about $2.7 trillion – more than two-thirds of the total – went for various kinds of social insurance (Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare, unemployment compensation, veterans benefits and the like). When thinking about federal spending, it’s worth remembering that, as former Treasury official Peter Fisher once said, the federal government is basically “a gigantic insurance company,” albeit one with “a sideline business in national defense and homeland security.” In fiscal year 2016, which ended this past Sept. That makes it a good time to look at the federal government’s spending habits in a broader context than just this year’s battles. It’s springtime, which means the start of the budgeting process for Congress and a mad dash for many Americans to file their income taxes.
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