Comparing Earmarks: Measure Against GDP

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The NYT ran a piece showing the decline in earmarks in spending bills over the last three years. The article shows the dollar value of earmarks fell by more than 10 percent from 2005 to 2008. It would have been useful to compare the value of earmarks to GDP. Since nominal GDP rose by more than 15 percent over this period, the value of earmarks relative to GDP fell by more than 25 percent over this period. It also would have been worth mentioning that the total value of earmarks for 2008 is projected to be less than $17 billion, approximately 0.5 percent of total spending. Even if earmarks were eliminated entirely, it would not have a very large impact on the budget.

--Dean Baker

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