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From: myers@uwmacc.UUCP (Latitudinarian Lobster)
Newsgroups: net.politics
Subject: Re: Supply-side Economics: the  Savings
Message-ID: <1667@uwmacc.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 7-Nov-85 15:59:08 EST
Article-I.D.: uwmacc.1667
Posted: Thu Nov  7 15:59:08 1985
Date-Received: Sun, 10-Nov-85 19:47:03 EST
References: <756@whuxl.UUCP> <29200244@uiucdcs>
Organization: Ken Kopp's Fresh Seafood Tank
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> 
> For the record, military spending does not exceed outlays for "social
> spending".  Data for the following table was obtained from the US
> Statistical Abstract, 1984, p.316; the numbers indicate acutal outlays in
> millions of dollars. [billions, surely not millions]
>
> 		                        1980    1983
> 				       -----   -----
> 		National Defense       135.9   214.8
> 		Vet.Benefits            21.2    24.4
> 		Total Military         157.1   239.2
> 		% of total outlays      27.2    29.7
> 
> 		Income Security        193.1   282.5
> 		Health                  55.2    82.4
> 		Education               30.8    26.7
> 		Total Social Spending  279.1   391.6
> 		% of total outlays      48.4    48.6
> 
> Scott Renner
> {pur-ee,ihnp4}!uiucdcs!renner

OK, let's use the 1985 *Economic Report of the President* and then more
carefully consider our categories.  The big problem above is the Income
Security category, in which Scott is lumping together Social Security,
Medicare, and the Income Security program per se.  Now, the money for
Social Security and Medicare do NOT come out of the general coffers of
the Fed but come out of the Social Security fund.  Budget receipts for
social insurance taxes continue to outpace the spending on Social Security
and Medicare (see table B-71).  The figures below are in billions of dollars
not adjusted for inflation, and the 1985-6 figures are estimates.

			1976	1980	1983	1984	1985	1986
			----	----	----	----	----	----
National Defense	 89.6	134.0	209.9	227.4	253.8	285.7
Net Interest on Debt	 26.7	 52.5	 89.8	111.1	130.4	142.6
Total			116.3	186.5	299.7	338.5	384.2	428.3

			1976	1980	1983	1984	1985	1986
			----	----	----	----	----	----
Education		 18.9	 31.8	 26.6	 27.6	 30.4	 29.3
Health			 15.7	 23.2	 28.6	 30.4	 33.9	 34.9
Income Security		 60.8	 86.5	122.6	112.7	127.2	115.8
Veterans Benefits	 18.4	 21.2	 24.8	 25.6	 26.9	 26.8
Total			113.8	162.7	202.6	196.3	218.4	206.8

Much leftist propaganda on defense spending includes the total amount of
the interest on the national debt as defense spending.  I'll let the
reader judge for herself.  Most also include veterans benefits under
national defense spending, but I think of it more as a form of income
security (although it can be argued both ways).  There are also all sort
of other small expenditures that one can lump into the second column.

Now, it's not so much the absolute figures that matter, but look at the
trends indicated above -- defense and interest spending are rising much
more dramatically than social spending, leaving social security and
medicare aside.

Perhaps more telling are the figures on government purchases of goods
and services (see table B-2).  Just for fun, let's throw in figures
on the civilian unemployment rate and the capacity utilization rate.
The dollar figures are in billions of 1972 dollars.

			1976	1980	1983	1984
			----	----	----	----
Defense purchases	 64.9	 70.0	 84.7	 89.5
Non-defense purchases	 31.8	 36.4	 31.5	 32.9
Civilian unemployment	 7.7%	 7.1%	 9.6%	 7.5%
Capacity utilization	80.4%	80.2%	75.3%	81.6%

Expenditures for defense related goods and services has increased by
38% from 1976 to 1984 while that for non-defense stuff has increased by
only 3.5%.

What think y'all?

-- 
Jeff Myers				The views above may or may not
University of Wisconsin-Madison		reflect the views of any other
Madison Academic Computing Center	person or group at UW-Madison.
ARPA: uwmacc!myers@rsch.wisc.edu
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