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What countries have "small governments?"?
Republicans always seem to be advocating "small government" (well, that's their rhetoric, not necessarily their actions). I take this to mean low government spending as a percentage of GDP. So, what are the effects of this on a country? What are some modern day examples of this?
Well, Austria is definitely not a small government: "In 2001 the government revenue (the income of government allocated via taxes, public charges etc.) amounted 52.2% of total GDP."
In the US, 2009 the total local, state, and federal spending was $5,896 billion, and the 2009 GDP was $14.33 trillion. So, the US's government spending per GDP in 2009 was ~41.14%.
Angola isn't really a small government either. Government spending as a percentage of GDP was 44.8% in 2007; still bigger than US government.
I actually found a list of spending/GDP for 160 countries based on 2007 statistics here (I think it only takes into account federal government spending though):
http://anepigone.blogspot.com/2008/03/government-s...
Here's the lowest 17 spenders in 2007:
144. US 19.9
145. Cameroon 19.1
146. Argentina 19.1
147. Armenia 17.8
148. Philippines 17.7
149. Brazil 17.3
150. Hong Kong 17.0
151. Guatemala 16.7
152. CAR 16.6
153. Costa Rica 16.5
154. Haiti 16.4
155. Si
2 Answers
- TranquiltyLv 51 decade ago
Edward. The smallest Sovereign State is Vatican City in Rome. The Pope is the head of the Sovereign State . It is self surporting the money that comes into the Vatican is mostly paid by the Visitors that pay to go into the Vatican .I think if you look it up you may find Luxembourg is one of the smallest countrys
Source(s): I hope what i written abouve to your question is of some help to you - PastelsLv 51 decade ago
Angola and Austria are two examples of small government states (though not the best).
The affects of smaller government include more efficient government processes, less national debt, less taxing of citizens, more freedom and liberties for citizens, less pork barrel spending etc.
