2014 is the year American austerity came to an end

2014 is the year that austerity began to come to an end to the United States, with government spending accelerating sharply across the first three quarters of the year. This doesn't comport particularly well with anyone's political narratives, but it's there plain as day in the data on total government spending:

Government spending really surged in 2009 thanks to the federal stimulus bill. But starting in 2010, aspects of the stimulus started to fade out and budget cuts made in state and local government were pulling in the opposite direction. Then we had a three-year period in 2011, 2012, and 2013 when total spending in the United States was basically flat. You had state and local cutbacks, and then, just as state and local budgets were getting in better shape, you had sequestration cuts taking effect.

But now in 2014, government spending is surging again. Not back up to Bush-era levels, but up off the floor from the prime austerity level.

So what's going on here? Well even though sequestration is still in effect, there's no new sequestration cuts happenings. Meanwhile, the number of old people collecting Social Security and Medicare checks keeps steadily rising and thanks to Obamacare a bunch of people got signed up for Medicaid in 2014. Meanwhile, state and local budgets are generally improving.

Will you support Vox’s explanatory journalism?

Most news outlets make their money through advertising or subscriptions. But when it comes to what we’re trying to do at Vox, there are a couple of big issues with relying on ads and subscriptions to keep the lights on:

First, advertising dollars go up and down with the economy. We often only know a few months out what our advertising revenue will be, which makes it hard to plan ahead.

Second, we’re not in the subscriptions business. Vox is here to help everyone understand the complex issues shaping the world — not just the people who can afford to pay for a subscription. We believe that’s an important part of building a more equal society. And we can’t do that if we have a paywall.

So even though advertising is still our biggest source of revenue, we also seek grants and reader support. (And no matter how our work is funded, we have strict guidelines on editorial independence.)

If you also believe that everyone deserves access to trusted high-quality information, will you make a gift to Vox today? Any amount helps.

One-Time Monthly Annual

$5/month

$10/month

$25/month

$50/month

Other

$

Yes, I'll give $5/month

Yes, I'll give $5/month

We accept credit card, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. You can also contribute via