ABSTRACT
Economic growth is measured in three dimensions: real GNP per working-age adult, output per hour worked in the business sector, and hours worked in the business sector per working-age adult. Most empirical studies of the fiscal effects on economic growth are of two types. One set, the focus of most applied public finance, estimates the partial effects of changes in specific government expenditures or tax provisions, based on the data from one country. The other set, the focus of several studies, estimates the effects of changes in highly aggregated fiscal conditions, based on cross-country data. The economic and fiscal data are based on the July 1992 revision, but the population data for 1981–1989 are subject to revision based on the 1990 census. The aggregate fiscal package of US governments does not appear to maximize economic growth.
