America’s state will expand whoever wins

In the Financial Times, Advisory Council member Lawrence H. Summers argues that no matter who wins this November’s presidential election, the size and scope of the federal government will continue to increase due to a variety of factors, including demographic changes, accumulation of debt, and increases in the price of what government buys (such as hospital care and higher education). Read the full piece here. As part of the debate around the merits of growing or shrinking the size of government, The Hamilton Project recently released an analysis of public sector employment showing that total government (i.e., the sum of state, local, and federal) employment has actually decreased by over 580,000 jobs since the end of the recession.