The fiscal problem in Missouri

Bibliographic data

Monograph

Identifikator:: 1833271335

URN:: urn:nbn:de:zbw-retromon-230042

Document type:: Monograph

Title:: The fiscal problem in Missouri

Place of publication:: New York

Publisher:: National Industrial Conference Board, Inc.

Year of publication:: 1930

Scope:: xvi, 359 S.

Digitisation:: 2022

Collection:: Economics Books

Usage license:: Get license information via the feedback formular.

Chapter

Document type:: Monograph

Structure type:: Chapter

Title:: Chapter I. State and local expenditures

Collection:: Economics Books

THE FISCAL PROBLEM IN MISSOURI In Table 1 the net and gross expenditures of the Missouri state government are shown also in 1913 dollars, or dollars having a uniform purchasing power. Since the price level in 1913 was lower than in any later year, it follows that the net and gross totals for all years later than 1913 are smaller when shown in 1913 dollars than when dollars of current purchasing power are used. Thus, both net and gross ex- penditures for 1918 expressed in 1913 dollars were smaller than the corresponding totals for 1913, while in actual dollars the opposite is true. Gross expenditures in terms of 1913 dollars were almost five times as large in 1925 as in 1913, while in 1928 they were more than four times as large. The reasons for the enlarged volume of expenditures in 1923 and later years will be considered in detail in the section on functional distribution. The relatively low volume of expenditures in 1918 is explained largely by two factors not immediately apparent from the tabular presentation. In 1918 production for war purposes was at its peak, and ‘the financial resources and manpower of the nation were being used unsparingly to accomplish a single end as quickly as possible. Consequently, governmental expenditures, par- ticularly for capital additions and replacements, were kept at an absolute minimum. Another factor that in part ac- counted for the relatively small amount of state expenditures in that year was the salary scale in the government service. Salaried employees are usually the last to receive the benefit of pay increases when the trend of the price level is definitely apward. The large majority of state employees are on a salary basis, and it seems likely that in 1918 the total of salaries paid by the state had not increased in proportion to the decline in the purchasing power of money. While this second factor is perhaps not so important as the first, it is of sufficient importance to deserve mention. Functional Distribution of State Expenditures The data presented in Table 2 show why state expendi- tures in recent years have been on a comparatively high level. The reasons for the variations in total expenditures will become readily apparent from analysis of these data. Since highway construction and maintenance absorbed a

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