Facebook Twitter Google+ LinkedIn2.3Kshares Through most of its history, the federal government did not have the power to tax incomes. How was it funded before the income tax? Today’s national debt is big by historical standards, but it has been bigger. When was the country’s deepest debt, and how long did it take to pay […]

Government spending or expenditure includes all government consumption, investment, and transfer payments. In national income accounting the acquisition by governments of goods and services for current use, to directly satisfy the individual or collective needs of the community, is classed as government final consumption expenditure. Government acquisition of goods and services intended to create future benefits, such as infrastructure investment or research spending, is classed as government investment (government gross capital formation). These two types of government spending, on final consumption and on gross capital formation, together constitute one of the major components of gross domestic product.