Bob wrote: > > 1 g to the e-gold account of the person that has the closest > answer to the below question. > > Answers must be posted here: > http://free-market.net/forums/e-gold0008/ > > Deadline for answers: Midnight EST, Saturday, March 10, 2001. > > Question: What was the cost of running the US government in > 1920, the year before Andrew Mellon started as treasury > secretary of the US? > > Today, the US GDP is roughly at about US$ 9-9.5 Trillion. > > US taxes are right at 20% of economic output or about > US$ 1.9 trillion > > Today (1998 - I don't have numbers for '99 and '00, but > close enough to get the idea) Federal, State and Local > receipts are about 31-32% of GDP or US$ 2.7+ Trillion. Today's Cost of US (Federal) government: US$ 1,900,000,000,000 (about) Eve had 1920's at: US$ 6,358,000,000 Chris had 1920's at: US$ 8,623,000,000 I had 1920's at: US$ 6,500,000,000 Since both GDP and government expenses are guestestimates (governments have been known to lose track of money spent and money coming in), like inflation numbers (which are rigged), both Eve and Chris get a gram a piece. Eve, Chris, send my your e-gold account numbers. What's interesting is that Mellon, 4 years later, had the government budget almost cut in half to about US$ 3.5 billion. Let's call it a 40-45% reduction in 3 years. Back then it was politically possible to do this. I'd say today that it's politically not possible for US government expenditures to have anything but a positive growth rate, untill it's time for the FX and debt markets to impose their discipline. Bob "The state is not something that can be destroyed by a revolution but is a condition, a certain relationship between human beings, a mode of human behaviour, we destroy it by behaving differently, by contracting other relationships. - Gustav Landauer. --- You are currently subscribed to e-gold-list as: archive@jab.org To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
