President Obama has smallest increase in government spending compared to Reagan, Bush 1,Clinton or Bush 2 according to Wall Street Journal.

The Wall Street Journal in its Marketwatch section has pointed out that contrary to the tea party claims President Obama has had the smallest increase in government spending of Presidents going all the way back to Ronald Reagan. Here are the facts according to WSJ as opposed to the claims made by radical Republicans. Note that the first year of a new President has his budget for that year set by the former President.

Percentage increase in Government spending by President

President Obama     1.4 % 2010 to 2013

President G.W.Bush  8.1 % 2006-09

President G.W.Bush  7.3 % 20112-2005

President W.J.Clinton  3.9 % 1998-2001

President W.J.Clinton    3.4 %   1994-1997

President H.W.Bush     5.4 %   1990-1993

President R.Reagan       4.9 %  1986-1989

President R.Reagan        8.7%    1982-1985

The details of President Obama’s expenditure increases are as follows.

2010 a decline in government spending of 1.8 %

2011 a rise of 4.3 %

2012 a rise of 0.7 %

2013 a decline of 1.3 %

See the WSJ http:articles.marketwatch.com/2012-o5-22/commentary/31802270-1spening-federal-budget-drunken-sailor.

The modest size of the increase in government spending helps explain why the Obama stimulus was less effective than it might have been if the spending increase had been much larger.

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About haroldchorneyeconomist

I am Professor of political economy at Concordia university in Montréal, Québec, Canada. I received my B.A.Hons (econ.&poli sci) from the University of Manitoba. I also completed my M.A. degree in economics there. Went on to spend two years at the London School of Economics as a Ph.D. student in economics and then completed my Ph.D. in political economy at the University of Toronto. Was named a John W.Dafoe fellow, a CMHC fellow and a Canada Council fellow. I also was named a Woodrow Wilson fellow in 1968 after completing my first class honours undergraduate degree. Worked as an economist in the area of education, labour economics and as the senior economist with the Manitoba Housing and Renewal Corporation for the Government of Manitoba from 1972 to 1978. I also have worked as an economic consultant for MDT socio-economic consultants and have been consulted on urban planning, health policy, linguistic duality and public sector finance questions by the governments of Manitoba, Saskatchewan,the cities of Regina and Saskatoon, Ontario and the Federal government of Canada. I have also been consulted by senior leaders of the British Labour party, MPs from the Progressive Conservative party, the Liberal party and the New Democrats on economic policy questions. Members of the Government of France under the Presidency of Francois Mitterand discussed my work on public sector deficits. I have also run for elected office at the municipal level. I first began to write about quantitative easing as a useful policy option during the early 1980s.
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