But where is that limit? The US provides an interesting example of this. As a result of the terrorist attacks on 11 September the need arose to increase federal government expenditure, and voices can already be heard referring to a return to “big government” in the US.
To put matters into proportion, however, anyone looking at figures published recently by the OECD will see that public-sector expenditure in the US in 2001 prior to the attacks was estimated at 30 percent of GDP, the lowest in the world.