America's grim budget outlook
By Fareed Zakaria
WashPost
Monday, March 7, 2011
It is now well understood that one of the crucial drivers of the crises in the Middle East is the discontent of its youth. Arab countries have been unable or unwilling to provide jobs, education, opportunity and rights for their young and so, finally, they revolted. Is there any lesson in this story for the United States? Not directly; there is no analogy between Middle Eastern dictatorships and American democracy. But if the troubles of Arab youth make us shine a light on the state of America's youth, the picture that emerges is grim.
As countries get rich, you might assume that they focus greater attention on their children. Not in the United States. The federal government's expenditures on children have shrunk as a share of the budget over the past 30 years. In 1960, about 20 percent of the federal budget went to programs dedicated to the health, development and education of Americans under the age of 18. Today it's 10 percent and falling.
By contrast, spending on the elderly has skyrocketed, doubling as a percentage of the budget during that time. Spending on Social Security and Medicare alone makes up close to 40 percent of the budget. In a decade, that share will rise considerably, perhaps to as much as half the federal budget. Whatever the exact percentages are - what you define as programs for children and the elderly can vary - the conclusion is clear: The federal government spends between $4 and $5 on elderly people for every dollar it spends on children.
Why is this happening? To put it bluntly, children don't vote or make campaign contributions, and the elderly do both aggressively. Our political system is hyper-responsive to votes and money, so the natural consequence is that those who organize, vote and send in dollars are looked after. Maybe we need to let toddlers form PACs.
(More here.)
WashPost
Monday, March 7, 2011
It is now well understood that one of the crucial drivers of the crises in the Middle East is the discontent of its youth. Arab countries have been unable or unwilling to provide jobs, education, opportunity and rights for their young and so, finally, they revolted. Is there any lesson in this story for the United States? Not directly; there is no analogy between Middle Eastern dictatorships and American democracy. But if the troubles of Arab youth make us shine a light on the state of America's youth, the picture that emerges is grim.
As countries get rich, you might assume that they focus greater attention on their children. Not in the United States. The federal government's expenditures on children have shrunk as a share of the budget over the past 30 years. In 1960, about 20 percent of the federal budget went to programs dedicated to the health, development and education of Americans under the age of 18. Today it's 10 percent and falling.
By contrast, spending on the elderly has skyrocketed, doubling as a percentage of the budget during that time. Spending on Social Security and Medicare alone makes up close to 40 percent of the budget. In a decade, that share will rise considerably, perhaps to as much as half the federal budget. Whatever the exact percentages are - what you define as programs for children and the elderly can vary - the conclusion is clear: The federal government spends between $4 and $5 on elderly people for every dollar it spends on children.
Why is this happening? To put it bluntly, children don't vote or make campaign contributions, and the elderly do both aggressively. Our political system is hyper-responsive to votes and money, so the natural consequence is that those who organize, vote and send in dollars are looked after. Maybe we need to let toddlers form PACs.
(More here.)
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