The Federal Debt, Budget and Spending
Spending Factored by Population and Inflation
Reorder Data:  Growth in Spending  Spending vs. Population & GDP  Deficits & Debt  
The Constitutional Dollar's Value Today  

Year	Total Spending ($ millions)	Population Growth	Inflation	Factored Spending ($ millions)	Spending in Excess of Factor
1789			-.9%	.0
1790		3.6%	3.8%
1791	4.3	3.5%	2.7%
1792	5.1	3.4%	1.8%	4.5	13.1%
1793	4.5	3.3%	3.5%	5.4	-17.4%
1794	7.0	3.2%	10.9%	5.1	36.3%
1795	7.5	3.1%	14.4%	8.2	-8.5%
1796	5.7	3.0%	5.3%	8.2	-30.0%
1797	6.1	2.9%	-3.8%	5.7	8.2%
1798	7.7	2.8%	-3.3%	6.1	25.8%
1799	9.7	2.7%	.0%	7.9	22.6%
1800	10.8	2.7%	2.0%	10.1	6.5%
1801	9.4	3.6%	1.3%	11.3	-17.1%
1802	7.9	3.5%	-15.7%	8.2	-4.1%
1803	7.9	3.4%	5.4%	8.6	-8.4%
1804	8.7	3.3%	4.4%	8.5	3.0%
1805	10.5	3.2%	-.7%	8.9	17.6%
1806	9.8	3.1%	4.3%	11.3	-13.2%
1807	8.4	3.0%	-5.4%	9.5	-12.5%
1808	9.9	2.9%	8.6%	9.3	6.4%
1809	10.3	2.8%	-2.0%	10.0	2.7%
1810	8.2	2.7%	.0%	10.6	-22.8%
1811	8.1	3.3%	6.8%	9.0	-10.4%
1812	20.3	3.2%	1.3%	8.4	140.8%
1813	31.7	3.1%	20.0%	25.1	26.3%
1814	34.7	3.0%	9.9%	35.9	-3.2%
1815	32.7	2.9%	-12.3%	31.3	4.4%
1816	30.6	2.8%	-8.6%	30.7	-.5%
1817	21.8	2.8%	-5.3%	29.8	-26.6%
1818	19.8	2.7%	-4.4%	21.4	-7.6%
1819	21.5	2.6%	.0%	20.3	5.5%
1820	18.3	2.6%	-7.8%	20.3	-10.0%
1821	15.8	3.3%	-3.5%	18.2	-13.1%
1822	15.0	3.2%	3.7%	16.9	-11.4%
1823	14.7	3.1%	-10.6%	13.8	6.4%
1824	20.3	3.0%	-7.9%	14.0	45.7%
1825	15.9	3.0%	2.6%	21.5	-26.1%
1826	17.0	2.9%	.0%	16.3	4.4%
1827	16.1	2.8%	.8%	17.7	-8.6%
1828	16.4	2.7%	-5.0%	15.7	4.1%
1829	15.2	2.6%	-1.8%	16.5	-8.0%
1830	15.1	2.6%	-.9%	15.5	-2.0%
1831	15.2	3.3%	-6.3%	14.7	4.1%
1832	17.3	3.2%	-1.0%	15.6	11.0%
1833	23.0	3.1%	-1.9%	17.5	31.7%
1834	18.6	3.0%	2.0%	24.2	-22.9%
1835	17.6	2.9%	2.9%	19.7	-10.9%
1836	30.9	2.8%	5.7%	19.1	61.7%
1837	37.2	2.7%	2.7%	32.6	14.4%
1838	33.9	2.7%	-2.6%	37.2	-9.1%
1839	26.9	2.6%	.0%	34.7	-22.6%
1840	24.3	2.5%	-7.1%	25.6	-5.0%
1841	26.6	3.7%	1.0%	25.5	4.4%
1842	25.2	3.5%	-6.7%	25.7	-1.8%
1843	11.9	3.4%	-9.2%	23.7	-49.9%
1844	22.3	3.3%	1.1%	12.4	80.3%
1845	22.9	3.2%	1.1%	23.3	-1.6%
1846	27.8	3.1%	1.1%	23.9	16.1%
1847	57.3	3.0%	7.6%	30.8	86.1%
1848	45.4	2.9%	-4.0%	56.6	-19.8%
1849	45.1	2.8%	-3.2%	45.2	-.3%
1850	39.5	2.8%	2.2%	47.3	-16.4%
1851	47.7	3.5%	-2.1%	40.0	19.1%
1852	44.2	3.4%	1.1%	49.8	-11.3%
1853	48.2	3.3%	.0%	45.6	5.6%
1854	58.0	3.2%	8.6%	54.0	7.5%
1855	59.7	3.1%	3.0%	61.6	-3.0%
1856	69.6	3.0%	-1.9%	60.4	15.3%
1857	67.8	2.9%	2.9%	73.7	-8.0%
1858	74.2	2.8%	-5.7%	65.7	12.8%
1859	69.1	2.8%	1.0%	77.0	-10.3%
1860	63.1	2.7%	.0%	70.9	-11.0%
1861	66.5	2.3%	6.0%	68.4	-2.8%
1862	475	2.2%	14.2%	77.6	511.5%
1863	715	2.2%	24.8%	605	18.1%
1864	865	2.1%	25.2%	914	-5.3%
1865	1,298	2.1%	3.7%	916	41.7%
1866	521	2.0%	-2.6%	1,290	-59.6%
1867	258	2.0%	-6.8%	495	-48.0%
1868	377	2.0%	-3.9%	252	49.6%
1869	323	1.9%	-4.1%	369	-12.5%
1870	310	2.0%	-4.3%	315	-1.8%
1871	292	2.3%	-6.4%	297	-1.5%
1872	278	2.6%	.0%	300	-7.5%
1873	290	2.7%	-2.0%	279	4.0%
1874	303	2.7%	-4.9%	284	6.7%
1875	275	2.7%	-3.7%	299	-8.3%
1876	265	2.7%	-2.3%	276	-3.8%
1877	241	2.7%	-2.3%	266	-9.2%
1878	237	2.7%	-4.8%	236	.4%
1879	267	2.7%	.0%	243	9.7%
1880	268	2.6%	2.5%	281	-4.7%
1881	261	2.3%	.0%	274	-4.8%
1882	258	2.3%	.0%	267	-3.3%
1883	265	2.3%	-1.6%	260	2.2%
1884	244	2.3%	-2.5%	265	-7.8%
1885	260	2.3%	-1.7%	245	6.0%
1886	242	2.2%	-2.6%	259	-6.4%
1887	268	2.2%	.9%	250	7.1%
1888	268	2.2%	.0%	274	-2.2%
1889	299	2.2%	-2.6%	267	12.3%
1890	318	2.2%	-1.8%	300	5.9%
1891	366	2.0%	.0%	324	12.8%
1892	345	1.9%	.0%	373	-7.5%
1893	383	1.9%	-.9%	348	10.0%
1894	368	1.9%	-4.6%	373	-1.4%
1895	356	1.9%	-1.9%	367	-3.0%
1896	352	1.9%	.0%	363	-3.0%
1897	366	1.9%	-1.0%	355	2.9%
1898	443	1.9%	.0%	373	19.0%
1899	605	1.9%	.0%	452	34.0%
1900	521	2.7%	1.0%	627	-17.0%
1901	525	1.8%	1.1%	536	-2.0%
1902	485	1.7%	.0%	534	-9.2%
1903	517	2.4%	.0%	497	4.1%
1904	584	2.1%	.0%	528	10.6%
1905	567	2.0%	.0%	595	-4.8%
1906	570	1.9%	.0%	578	-1.4%
1907	579	1.9%	.0%	581	-.3%
1908	659	1.9%	.0%	590	11.7%
1909	694	1.8%	.0%	671	3.4%
1910	694	1.7%	.0%	706	-1.7%
1911	691	1.5%	.0%	705	-1.9%
1912	690	1.5%	20.0%	842	-18.0%
1913	715	1.5%	-3.3%	677	5.6%
1914	726	1.5%	1.7%	738	-1.6%
1915	746	1.4%	.0%	736	1.3%
1916	713	1.4%	8.5%	821	-13.1%
1917	1,954	1.4%	17.2%	847	130.6%
1918	12,677	1.4%	17.3%	2,324	445.4%
1919	18,493	1.4%	14.8%	14,749	25.4%
1920	6,358	1.5%	15.8%	21,737	-70.8%
1921	5,062	1.6%	-10.3%	5,795	-12.7%
1922	3,289	1.5%	-6.7%	4,797	-31.4%
1923	3,140	1.5%	2.0%	3,407	-7.8%
1924	2,908	1.5%	.0%	3,187	-8.8%
1925	2,924	2.3%	2.0%	3,035	-3.7%
1926	2,930	.6%	2.0%	2,999	-2.3%
1927	2,857	1.4%	-1.9%	2,915	-2.0%
1928	2,961	1.4%	-2.0%	2,840	4.2%
1929	3,127	1.7%	.0%	3,011	3.9%
1930	3,320	1.1%	-2.0%	3,097	7.2%
1931	3,577	.8%	-9.2%	3,039	17.7%
1932	4,659	.6%	-10.1%	3,236	44.0%
1933	4,598	.6%	-5.0%	4,452	3.3%
1934	6,541	.6%	2.6%	4,749	37.7%
1935	6,412	.7%	2.6%	6,755	-5.1%
1936	8,228	.6%	1.3%	6,534	25.9%
1937	7,580	.6%	3.7%	8,585	-11.7%
1938	6,840	.8%	-1.2%	7,548	-9.4%
1939	9,141	.8%	-2.4%	6,730	35.8%
1940	9,468	.8%	1.2%	9,331	1.5%
1941	13,653	1.0%	4.9%	10,026	36.2%
1942	35,137	1.1%	10.5%	15,247	130.5%
1943	78,555	1.4%	6.3%	37,877	107.4%
1944	91,304	1.2%	2.0%	81,082	12.6%
1945	92,712	1.1%	1.9%	94,107	-1.5%
1946	55,232	1.0%	8.6%	101,709	-45.7%
1947	34,496	1.9%	14.9%	64,697	-46.7%
1948	29,764	1.7%	7.6%	37,775	-21.2%
1949	38,835	1.7%	-1.4%	29,854	30.1%
1950	42,562	1.7%	1.4%	40,053	6.3%
1951	45,514	1.7%	7.8%	46,670	-2.5%
1952	67,686	1.7%	2.0%	47,215	43.4%
1953	76,101	1.7%	.6%	69,256	9.9%
1954	70,855	1.8%	.6%	77,945	-9.1%
1955	68,444	1.8%	.0%	72,113	-5.1%
1956	70,640	1.8%	1.3%	70,552	.1%
1957	76,578	1.8%	3.1%	74,184	3.2%
1958	82,405	1.7%	3.0%	80,234	2.7%
1959	92,098	1.7%	.6%	84,288	9.3%
1960	92,191	2.1%	1.8%	95,675	-3.6%
1961	97,723	1.6%	1.2%	94,795	3.1%
1962	106,821	1.5%	1.1%	100,372	6.4%
1963	111,316	1.5%	1.1%	109,597	1.6%
1964	118,528	1.4%	1.1%	114,121	3.9%
1965	118,228	1.3%	1.7%	122,011	-3.1%
1966	134,532	1.2%	3.3%	123,498	8.9%
1967	157,464	1.1%	2.6%	139,585	12.8%
1968	178,134	1.0%	4.6%	166,383	7.1%
1969	183,640	1.0%	5.4%	189,601	-3.1%
1970	195,649	1.2%	5.6%	196,139	-.2%
1971	210,172	1.3%	4.4%	206,860	1.6%
1972	230,681	1.1%	3.4%	219,602	5.0%
1973	245,707	1.0%	6.1%	247,153	-.6%
1974	269,359	.9%	11.2%	275,638	-2.3%
1975	332,332	1.0%	9.0%	296,452	12.1%
1976	371,792	1.0%	5.7%	354,746	4.8%
1977	409,218	1.0%	6.6%	400,360	2.2%
1978	458,746	1.1%	7.6%	445,021	3.1%
1979	504,032	1.1%	11.3%	516,066	-2.3%
1980	590,947	1.2%	13.2%	577,055	2.4%
1981	678,249	1.0%	10.6%	660,132	2.7%
1982	745,755	1.0%	6.2%	727,249	2.5%
1983	808,385	.9%	3.2%	776,557	4.1%
1984	851,874	.9%	4.3%	850,485	.2%
1985	946,422	.9%	3.6%	890,600	6.3%
1986	990,460	.9%	1.7%	971,752	1.9%
1987	1,004,083	.9%	3.7%	1,036,803	-3.2%
1988	1,064,481	.9%	4.1%	1,054,456	1.0%
1989	1,143,829	.9%	4.9%	1,127,277	1.5%
1990	1,253,130	1.0%	5.4%	1,217,718	2.9%
1991	1,324,331	1.1%	4.2%	1,319,902	.3%
1992	1,381,649	1.1%	3.0%	1,379,177	.2%
1993	1,409,522	1.1%	3.0%	1,439,235	-2.1%
1994	1,461,907	.4%	2.5%	1,450,586	.8%
1995	1,515,884	.3%	2.9%	1,508,679	.5%
1996	1,560,608	.6%	2.9%	1,569,821	-.6%
1997	1,601,307	.6%	2.3%	1,606,228	-.3%
1998	1,652,685	.6%	1.6%	1,636,921	1.0%
1999	1,702,035	.6%	2.2%	1,699,421	.2%
2000	1,789,216	5.5%	3.4%	1,856,748	-3.6%
2001	1,863,190	1.4%	2.8%	1,864,179	-.1%
2002	2,011,153	1.0%	1.6%	1,912,246	5.2%
2003	2,160,117	.6%	2.3%	2,070,690	4.3%
2004	2,293,006	1.0%	2.7%	2,239,140	2.4%
2005	2,471,971	.9%	3.4%	2,393,461	3.3%
2006	2,655,057	1.0%	3.2%	2,575,749	3.1%
2007	2,728,702	1.0%	2.9%	2,756,686	-1.0%
2008	2,982,554	1.0%	3.9%	2,861,491	4.2%
2009	3,517,681	1.0%	-.4%	2,999,760	17.3%
2010	3,456,213	.5%	1.6%	3,591,803	-3.8%
2011	3,818,819	.7%	3.2%	3,593,550	6.3%
2012	3,728,686	.8%	2.8%	3,955,202	-5.7%
2013	3,803,367	.7%	3.0%	3,869,345	-1.7%
2014	4,161,230	.7%	2.0%	3,908,529	6.5%
2015 (est.)	4,385,531	.8%	1.0%	4,234,366	3.6%

This is a simplistic exercise to examine how much more the government spends than it should if the only upward force on spending were population growth and inflation. The "Factored Spending" column shows the previous year's outlay factored (usually upward) by these two growth parameters. The "Spending in Excess" column shows the percentage by which government spending grew faster than the combined effects of population and inflation. Ignoring wars, that percentage represents the expansion of program baselines, and waste. Off-budget (Social Security, etc.) commitments are not included in the comparison.
The primary sources for budget and spending information are the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Office of Management and Budget.
Data marked '(est.)' are official projections, usually fairly optimistic.