The growth of the incredible shrinking government

The great Floyd Norris, business writer for the New York Times, a writer just slightly less great than his colleague at The Times, Gretchen Morgenson, reported Saturday that the government grew in the first three quarters of 2014 at an annual rate of 1.8%.

Federal government investment in non-military programs – things like highways – fell to a 54 year low however. Military investment – building weapon systems and military bases etc. – fell also to a 13 year low of 0.81%.

It seems that while the government is growing, albeit be at a snails pace, it's also shrinking, or one can infer from Norris's report.

"Given the economic slack in the construction sector, and the decaying infrastructure in much of America, many economists have called for an increase in spending on roads and sewers. But it has not happened. In a time of austerity, delaying or canceling investment projects may be much easier politically than laying off workers or otherwise reducing current operations."