Even within the OECD area, countries with similar economic systems, there are big
differences in the part played by national governments.
Table 10.1: General Government Expenditure (% of GDP)
| France |
37.2 |
45.6 |
49.6 |
51.6 |
52.5 |
| Germany |
39.1 |
47.9 |
44.5 |
45.1 |
43.5 |
| United States |
32.3 |
33.8 |
36.0 |
32.5 |
36.8 |
| Japan |
21.4 |
33.5 |
32.3 |
40.7 |
39.0 |
| UK |
41.5 |
47.4 |
41.5 |
36.9 |
45.8 |
Source: European Economy (European Commission, 2009)
Table 10.1: General Government Expensiture (% of GDP), shows one way of assessing the
role of government, the share of GDP accounted for by public sector spending. The
sharp rise in the government’s share of GDP is one of the most striking features
of the table and the current downturn and banking crisis will give an extra twist
to public sector involvement in most economies. This will be reflected in the statistics
for 2009 onwards.
In this section, the overall scope of the government’s role in the UK economy is
assessed. To avoid duplication, references are given to other sections in which
a topic is covered in more detail.
The following pages pull together specialist themes that have been more fully developed
elsewhere to give an overall picture of the size and range of activities in the
UK that are the responsibility of government.
