Cost of Government Day (COGD)
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Cost of Government Day - Components

The average American worker will have to labor 83.7 days just to pay for federal spending, which is now consuming 22.9 percent of national income.  This compares to last year when the average American worker had to labor 82.6 days to pay for federal spending.  This shows that federal spending is still growing faster than national income, and much faster than it should be growing.

Dangers lurk at the federal level in the form of new entitlement programs that some want to adopt, even in the face of future exploding costs for current entitlement programs, as discussed further below. 

Contributing even more to rapidly rising government burdens right now is soaring state and local government spending.  The average American worker must labor 50.5 days this year, approaching two months, just to pay for state and local government spending.  That compares to 48.9 days just last year, and 44.3 days in 2003.  That means in the last five years alone, state and local spending has grown by almost 12 percent relative to national income.       

The average American worker must labor 62.6 days this year just to cover the costs of government regulation.  This compares to 61.7 days for last year, reflecting accelerating growth in regulatory costs.  While those costs had been stable at 16.9 percent of national income for the previous four years, this year regulation is estimated to cost 17.2 percent of national income.

The big danger in the regulatory arena is that these costs are threatening to explode as well.  As discussed below, global warming regulation, particularly any of the cap and trade bills pending in Congress, would add another trillion dollars to regulatory costs.

2008 Cost of Government Day Components

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