Sjeltur

The Soviet Union was a communist state with the biggest government ever seen in history. Driven by ideology, the government ruled every aspect of the lives of Soviet citizens. The big Soviet government spent an astronomical amount of money to do so. On top of that, even more money was needed to keep up with the US in the arms race during the Cold War.

How much did they actually spend? The spending of the Soviet Union reached its highest level during the 1980s, adjusted for inflation in 2009 US dollars, it was about $ 1,500 billion annually. The US government spent this amount already in the 1970s, but for a fair comparison we have to take into account the large difference between the GDPs (Gross Domestic Product) of these countries. In the late 1980s the GDP of the US was twice as much than that of the Soviet Union, about $ 5,200 billion vs $ 2,600 billion. To reach the same level of spending like the Soviets did, the US government has to spend $ 3,000 billion annually.

Here a table with US government spending over the years, and as a percentage of Soviet spending:

Adjusted for inflation and GDP difference, this year the US government is going to spend more than the Soviet government ever did. It’s not a surprise that the big government of the Soviet Union did spend so much money, given its political system. But for Americans, alarm bells should go off. Their government is now bigger than the government of the Soviet Union ever was, at least when it comes to its spending.

The Soviet Union collapsed under financial pressure, and this should be a warning to the US. The US is in danger of collapsing in the future, if the US government continues to increase spending with money they don’t really have. Of course, the US has a completely different political system than the Soviet Union had. Let’s hope this difference, together with limits on government spending, can prevent a collapse of the US.