Data on public spending in the UK suggests that public spending has oscillated around 40% and seems utterly sustainable.
For decades public expenditure in UK has oscillated around 40% of GDP. Although there is a common claim that public expenditure is unsustainable it seems instead simply that politicians do not wish to be honest about the taxes needed to pay for services and redistribution. The most recent increase in public spending was largely caused by a large bail out for private banks and recent Austerity policies have targeted disabled people and other minority groups in order to pay for this bail-out.
The publisher is the Centre for Welfare Reform.
Graphic on Public Expenditure & GDP (1976-2019) © Simon Duffy 2017.
All Rights Reserved. No part of this paper may be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher except for the quotation of brief passages in reviews.
social justice, tax and benefits, Graphic
