The purpose of this article is to explore the effect of government size on economic growth in the United States using time-series data over the period 1950 to 1998. A multi-equation model is developed to examine the relationship between economic growth and government size. The results indicate that government size has a significant and negative effect on economic growth.

The Suits Index is often used in tax policy analysis to measure the degree of progressivity of a tax, or to analyze changes in progressivity under alternative tax regimes. As a point estimator, however, the Index provides researchers with no assistance in assessing whether changes are in fact statistically significant. We present a bootstrap methodology by which researchers can estimate confidence intervals for differences in Suits Indices. We also illustrate the use of that methodology with an application for the U.S. income tax, simulating the effects of removing housing deductions.

Research has often focused on how foreign direct investment (FDI) transfers technology from developed economies to less developed economies. Most FDI occurs between developed economies, however, and the country receiving the greatest inflow of FDI is the United States. This paper examines whether such FDI inflows have stimulated growth of the U.S. economy. We apply time-series data to a simultaneous-equation model (SEM) that explicitly captures the bi-directional relationship between FDI and U.S. economic growth. FDI is found to have a significant, positive, and economically important impact on U.S. growth. Also, our SEM estimates reveal that FDI growth is income inelastic. These results imply that: (1) even a technologically advanced country such as the U.S. benefits from FDI, (2) the gains from FDI are very substantial in the long run, and (3) the sustainability of the U.S. current account deficit is enhanced by FDI's positive effect on productivity but undermined by the income inelasticity of FDI. Overall, the results suggest that U.S. policies should focus on keeping the country attractive to foreign direct investors.

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The purpose of this paper is to explore the association between government size and economic growth in the United States using time-series data over the period 1950–2007. In particular, this paper examines the effects of two key components of government expenditure, namely, government consumption and government investment, on US economic growth. A simultaneous-equation model is used to deal with the problem of bi-directional relationship between government size and economic growth. The results suggest that an increase in government consumption slows economic growth, while a rise in government investment enhances economic growth. Furthermore, the results also show that government investment crowds out private investment. Therefore, the overall effect of total government expenditure on economic growth is ambiguous.