The Largest National Expenditures, Essay Example

Economics

There have been increases in national expenditures from the 1980’s and 2000 with wars being the major causal factors. For example Civil wars have cost the federal government up to $13 million and World Wars cost approximately 1 trillion. After each war, the national expenditures fell noticeably but this did not fall even below the prewar levels. The largest portion of the national budget since WW II has been allotted to the national security. Even, though the output of the dollar on the national security has gone as high as $ 281.2 from $50.2 in 1981, the total percentage of the national expenditure allotted to defense has always been on the increase since the beginning of the 1989-1990 Cold War. The spending on national security has continuously increased with a significant dramatic rise in the indebtedness of the nation.

In 1980, the national budget for defense was $909 billion which increased with more than $100 billion by the time it clocked the year 1990. For four successive years between the years 1997-200, a vigorous economy and sending spree saw the country having yet another expenditure increase. This was mainly due to increase in terrorist attacks that were aimed at the US several of its embassies being bombed in various countries like Kenya and Uganda in 1998. The budget was big and the national debt increased lightly. Similarly, a combination of the 2001 recession and the September 1 terrorist attack retuned the government to what was recorded as one of the largest spending budgets (Savage, 1988). By the end of the year 2001, the nation had spent about $5.8 trillion. A debt of approximately the same amount was incurred making the interest on that particular debt cost the government over $336.3 billion and this made the payment of the interests to be one of the largest national expenditures on the domestic debt.

Reference

Savage, J. D. Balanced Expenditures and American Budget. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1988.

Ippolito, D.S. Uncertain Legacies: Federal expenditure Policy from Roosevelt through Reagan. Charlottesville: University Press of Chicago, 1990.