Spending: Quantity and Quality

Out-of-control spending has been an issue for a number of years. The issue that is not discussed but should be discussed is this. Not all spending is created equal, and mattering as much as the quantity of spending is its quality. And this is something that should be considered in any effort to control spending.

Spending on science, education, and projects such as the Interstate and the Internet, vastly facilitates prosperity; and the returns on that spending to the nation's economy far exceed the taxpayer money that's spent on these things. The same cannot be said about giveaways of taxpayer money to pharmaceutical companies, subsidies to the beef and oil industries, or the military buying $600 toilets and throwing away perfectly good tools after a week in use.

So that while there is certainly a need to rein in spending, the question to ask is not just how much spending to keep, but which. Some spending generates benefit and returns far in excess of the money expended; other spending does not. And intelligent approach to the budget will recognize that and prioritize spending that generates vast returns and achieves great benefit over spending that does not.

So yes, cut the fat, reduce outlays; but don't cut things that bring to the economy returns significantly above the money expended. Science, education, and Interstate and Internet, facilitate market prosperity and realize far greater returns than the money spent on these things. Whereas there are a number of government branches, the military especially, where funds keep getting wasted on practices that are completely unnecessary, and without which practices the military would be just as strong as it is now while costing much less - or much stronger than it is now while costing as much as it does presently.

The criterion for spending therefore is not just its quantity; it is its quality. And the more this is considered, the more intelligent the budget policy is going to be.