Freeman

ANYTHING PEACEFUL

Government Cost Calculator Website Launched

SEPTEMBER 01, 2010 by TSVETELIN M. TSONEVSKI

In 2010 federal spending is expected to reach $ 3.5 trillion. By 2019 the national debt is projected to surpass $ 23 trillion.

What does this mean for you, the individual taxpayer? What are the actual costs and forgone private investment opportunities?

You can now find the answer at MyGovCost.org, a website just launched by the Independent Institute. Thanks to a team of economists, including Freeman columnist Robert Higgs, the site calculates how much any taxpayer will contribute to various federal programs per month, per year, and in his or her lifetime. The calculator also estimates what that tax money could have generated in private investment.

The MyGovCost.org is directed by Emily Skarbek, an assistant professor of economics at San Jose State University, director of the Independent Institute’s Center on Entrepreneurial Innovation, and a former Ph.D. student of FEE trustee Peter Boettke.

ABOUT

TSVETELIN M. TSONEVSKI

Tsvetelin Tsonevski is director of academic affairs at FEE. He holds LL.M. degree in Law and Economics from George Mason School of Law.

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