Where’s the Cheese? The Geography of Government Transfers
Wednesday March 7th, 2012 • Posted by Emily Skarbek at 4:51am PDT • 6 Comments
A few weeks ago, the New York Times posted a nice info-graphic on the dispersion of government transfers over time. The report show that American’s income that comes from government transfer programs has more than doubled over the last 40 years, rising from 8 percent in 1969 to 18 percent in 2009.
The info-graphic allows you to use the sidebar to look at the different geographic patterns of the beneficiaries of government programs and break this down by Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, Veterans Benefits, Unemployment Insurance, and Income Support. But that’s not all! The arrows on the top right let you browse through decades, going all the way back to 1969. If you roll over counties, you can view a time series for the corresponding region against the national average.
What is most surprising to you about the patterns of government transfers?
HT: Flowing Data
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The New York Times |
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Joe Pullifrone says:
Ms. Easterly, so as long as you’ve “worked for them” you deserve to be cared for under threat of force (taxes) by other people? Veterans were paid while they were “serving” their country. At what point do we stop compensating them? Fisherman, Loggers, and Airplane Pilots all risk their lives disproportionately serving their country. Should we endow them with life-long compensation?
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[...] Where’s the Cheese? The Geography of Government Transfers [...]
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Rick Caird says:
Joe, many of those veterans being paid today were drafted and paid a pittance while serving. Unlike fisherman, loggers, and airplane pilots, they did not have a choice in the matter.
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Rick, You are indeed correct but this does not mean that everyone else should be compelled (i.e., enslaved) to fund the pensions and benefits of those who were enslaved by the draft.
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Interesting graph. People often say the extremely remote parts of America are rugged and independent, but parts of Interior Alaska and the freezing far north of Maine appear to contradict this. The remote, serpentine-dominated, but climatically gorgeous northern California coast is also a big hotbed of government, as is the horribly hot west of Arizona.
On the other hand, the inner cities, so often seen as the hotbed of public welfare, do not on this graph appear that way. One wonders how independent the generally very conservative suburbs and exurbs are??
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Veterans Benefits and Unemployment Insurance should not be lumped into the rest of this grouping. Both benefits were worked for. Very often veterans risked and/or lost their lives serving their country, with the promise that they would be covered with medical care, educational benefits, and retirement pay if they qualified. These promises are quickly being eroded, while unearned benefits to the others listed are growing.
Why not give a detailed listing of Senators, Congress, and Presidents benefits and “programs”. One term, and they get retirement and benefits for life. This does not include leaving office to become a lobbyiest, paid television and speech appearances, or writing books about themselves. With less “appropiations” for themselves, and a more realistic handling of everything else, this country would not be in as bad a shape.