Here are two expanded charts on federal spending by president. The first shows spending before subtracting the national debt service costs, and the second one shows spending after. The methodology for deriving these charts is discussed below.
Year Federal spending % increase from Inflation rate Rate of real
(in $bil) previous year year T-1 increase
Nixon
1969: 183.6 ----- ----- -----
1970: 195.6 6.5% 5.5% 0.9%
1971: 210.2 7.5% 5.7% 1.7%
1972: 230.7 9.8% 4.4% 5.2%
1973: 245.7 6.5% 3.2% 3.2%
1974: 269.4 9.6% 6.2% 3.2%
1975: 332.3 23.3% 11.0% 11.1%
Nixon total: 81.0% 41.7% 27.7%
Nixon average: 4.2%
Ford
1976: 371.8 11.9% 9.1% 2.6%
1977: 409.2 10.1% 5.8% 4.1%
Ford total: 23.1% 15.4% 6.7%
Ford average: 3.3%
Carter
1978: 458.7 12.1% 6.5% 5.3%
1979: 504.0 9.9% 7.6% 2.1%
1980: 590.9 17.2% 11.3% 5.3%
1981: 678.2 14.8% 13.5% 1.1%
Carter total: 65.7% 44.8% 14.4%
Carter average: 3.4%
Reagan
1982: 745.8 10.0% 10.3% -0.3%
1983: 808.4 8.4% 6.2% 2.1%
1984: 851.8 5.4% 3.2% 2.1%
1985: 946.4 11.1% 4.3% 6.5%
1986: 990.3 4.6% 3.6% 1.0%
1987: 1003.9 1.4% 1.9% -0.5%
1988: 1064.1 6.0% 3.6% 2.3%
1989: 1143.2 7.4% 4.1% 3.2%
Reagan total 1982-87: 48.0% 33.0% 11.3%
Reagan average 1982-87: 1.8%
Reagan total: 68.6% 43.6% 17.4%
Reagan average: 2.0%
Bush
1990: 1252.5 9.6% 4.8% 4.6%
1991: 1323.6 5.7% 5.4% 0.3%
1992: 1380.9 4.3% 4.2% 0.1%
1993: 1408.7 2.0% 3.0% -1.0%
Bush total: 23.2% 18.6% 3.9%
Bush average: 1.0%
Clinton
1994: 1460.8 3.7% 3.0% 0.7%
1995: 1519.1 4.0% 2.6% 1.4%
Clinton average: 1.0%
Year Federal spending % increase from Inflation rate Rate of real
(- debt service) previous year year T-1 increase
(in $bil)
Nixon
1969: 170.9 ----- ----- -----
1970: 181.3 6.1% 5.5% 0.6%
1971: 195.3 7.7% 5.7% 1.9%
1972: 215.2 9.2% 4.4% 4.6%
1973: 228.4 6.1% 3.2% 2.8%
1974: 247.9 8.5% 6.2% 2.2%
1975: 309.1 24.7% 11.0% 12.3%
Nixon total: 80.9% 41.7% 27.7%
Nixon average: 4.2%
Ford
1976: 345.1 11.6% 9.1% 2.3%
1977: 379.3 9.9% 5.8% 3.9%
Ford total: 22.7% 15.4% 6.3%
Ford average: 3.1%
Carter
1978: 423.3 11.6% 6.5% 4.8%
1979: 461.4 9.0% 7.6% 1.3%
1980: 538.4 16.7% 11.3% 4.8%
1981: 609.5 13.2% 13.5% -0.3%
Carter total: 60.7% 44.8% 11.0%
Carter average: 2.6%
Reagan
1982: 660.7 8.4% 10.3% -1.7%
1983: 718.6 8.8% 6.2% 2.4%
1984: 740.7 3.1% 3.2% -0.1%
1985: 816.9 10.3% 4.3% 5.7%
1986: 854.3 4.6% 3.6% 1.0%
1987: 865.3 1.3% 1.9% -0.6%
1988: 912.3 5.2% 3.6% 1.5%
1989: 973.9 6.8% 4.1% 2.5%
Reagan total 1982-87: 42.0% 33.0% 6.7%
Reagan average 1982-87: 1.1%
Reagan total: 59.8% 43.6% 11.3%
Reagan average: 1.3%
Bush
1990: 1068.3 9.7% 4.8% 4.7%
1991: 1129.1 5.7% 5.4% 0.3%
1992: 1181.4 4.6% 4.2% 0.4%
1993: 1209.9 2.4% 3.0% -0.6%
Bush total: 24.2% 18.6% 4.8%
Bush average: 1.2%
Clinton
1994: 1257.8 4.0% 3.0% 0.9%
1995: 1287.0 2.3% 2.6% -0.3%
Clinton total: 6.4% 5.6% 0.8%
Clinton average: 0.4%
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____________________
These charts were prepared by Steve Casburn, an econometrician from
Ohio State University. He writes:
"The federal spending numbers come from the Historical Charts
of the Budget for FY1997, the percentage increase was calculated from those
numbers, the inflation rate (CPI-U) comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics,
and the rate of real increase was calculated by dividing the rate of inflation
into the increase in the budget (for example, for 1970: 1.065 / 1.055 =
1.00947; a 0.9% increase.)
"(The reason why I used the inflation rate from the year before
the budget year is because the previous year's inflation is what Congress
and the Administration are dealing with when they set the baselines for
the year. Using the concurrent rate of inflation leads to some remarkably
divergent data points!)
"The administration totals are derived by comparing the last year
to the base year (not by adding percentages!); the administration
averages are compound averages of the totals."