Defense spending includes all federal spending for national defense, DOD and civilian, but excludes veterans affairs. Defense spending peak in 1977 is due to inclusion of the 1977 transition quarter expenditures. Public school spending includes all government expenditures (federal, state, and local) for public schools elementary through high school. All education spending includes public school spending plus expenditures for private primary and secondary schools and for private and public post-secondary institutions. All figures adjusted for inflation (expressed in 2008 $)
The table below gives yearly expenditures in millions of inflation-adjusted dollars (2008 $):
| year | defense | public K-12 | all education |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1940 | 24,387 | 34,435 | |
| 1941 | 93,311 | ||
| 1942 | 337,851 | ||
| 1943 | 808,672 | ||
| 1944 | 932,470 | ||
| 1945 | 957,356 | ||
| 1946 | 480,358 | ||
| 1947 | 123,888 | ||
| 1948 | 80,227 | ||
| 1949 | 111,983 | ||
| 1950 | 118,969 | 50,608 | 73,632 |
| 1951 | 192,500 | ||
| 1952 | 360,008 | 57,365 | 83,853 |
| 1953 | 406,515 | ||
| 1954 | 376,119 | 69,412 | 100,370 |
| 1955 | 327,838 | ||
| 1956 | 324,740 | 83,661 | 121,479 |
| 1957 | 337,321 | ||
| 1958 | 336,548 | 97,690 | 144,173 |
| 1959 | 347,497 | ||
| 1960 | 336,287 | 109,089 | 155,909 |
| 1961 | 342,294 | ||
| 1962 | 357,524 | 125,490 | 183,239 |
| 1963 | 360,335 | ||
| 1964 | 364,500 | 141,954 | 213,034 |
| 1965 | 332,735 | ||
| 1966 | 373,895 | 168,884 | 260,956 |
| 1967 | 445,432 | ||
| 1968 | 494,574 | 199,077 | 311,248 |
| 1969 | 474,866 | ||
| 1970 | 443,987 | 221,108 | 349,067 |
| 1971 | 407,619 | 235,149 | 369,907 |
| 1972 | 395,010 | 239,728 | 381,719 |
| 1973 | 367,752 | 248,675 | 397,616 |
| 1974 | 349,387 | 250,855 | 401,068 |
| 1975 | 342,923 | 257,051 | 411,873 |
| 1976 | 331,763 | 261,360 | 422,035 |
| 1977 | 414,379 | 259,530 | 426,031 |
| 1978 | 335,993 | 264,995 | 434,365 |
| 1979 | 339,080 | 259,887 | 430,786 |
| 1980 | 343,834 | 253,774 | 423,322 |
| 1981 | 363,824 | 246,778 | 418,019 |
| 1982 | 398,615 | 242,559 | 416,296 |
| 1983 | 436,208 | 247,713 | 428,095 |
| 1984 | 453,948 | 257,175 | 445,756 |
| 1985 | 486,582 | 265,930 | 464,603 |
| 1986 | 513,688 | 280,362 | 489,286 |
| 1987 | 515,159 | 296,973 | 518,574 |
| 1988 | 509,432 | 306,070 | 534,847 |
| 1989 | 508,402 | 326,910 | 564,531 |
| 1990 | 477,495 | 344,023 | 591,494 |
| 1991 | 415,023 | 351,731 | 606,048 |
| 1992 | 439,819 | 358,078 | 620,839 |
| 1993 | 416,476 | 364,345 | 633,628 |
| 1994 | 392,657 | 372,518 | 647,511 |
| 1995 | 368,950 | 380,827 | 662,515 |
| 1996 | 350,586 | 390,203 | 675,737 |
| 1997 | 347,586 | 404,578 | 696,177 |
| 1998 | 339,097 | 424,355 | 724,114 |
| 1999 | 340,871 | 443,989 | 753,436 |
| 2000 | 353,950 | 463,062 | 787,444 |
| 2001 | 354,979 | 481,695 | 826,665 |
| 2002 | 399,913 | 501,603 | 867,313 |
| 2003 | 453,862 | 512,847 | 897,036 |
| 2004 | 499,529 | 523,201 | 916,009 |
| 2005 | 525,517 | 534,506 | 937,633 |
| 2006 | 533,986 | 540,619 | 952,274 |
| 2007 | 552,473 | 556,156 | 977,548 |
| 2008 | 581,327 | ||
| 2009 | 650,443 |
Sources: Defense expenditures, U.S. GAO budget FY 2009 [http://frwebgate5.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/TEXTgate.cgi?WAISdocID=1287937791+7+1+0&WAISaction=retrieve]; Education expenditures, U.S. Dept. of Education National Center for Education Statistics [http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d07/tables/dt07_026.asp?referrer=list and http://nces.ed.gov/pubs91/91660.pdf]; CPI for inflation adjustments, U.S. Dept. of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics [ftp://ftp.bls.gov/pub/special.requests/cpi/cpiai.txt],
© 2001, 2006, 2009 by Wm. Robert Johnston.
Last modified 13 February 2009.
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