The 12% Solution

If the size of the federal work force is 17 million (in 1999, so let us assume it is larger in 2012 -- not to mention state, etc. workers -- meaning we will use this entire 17 million number for the rest of this analysis, since we will also assume someone has to work for the various governments), and the labor force is 154 million in a $15 trillion economy, and we assume that this same 17 million federal workers have a net effect on the economy of $0 (which is wrong, as they in fact have a negative effect on economic growth), how much economic growth do we miss out on by having all these bureaucrats not producing economic value? 154 million - 17 million is 137 million. $15 trillion / 137 million is $109,489 in value created. $109,489 x 17 million = $1,861,313,000,000 $1,861,313,000,000 / $15 trillion = 0.124 = 12.4% Or, if you prefer, 137 million/17 million = 12.4% I went through all the monetary calculations to show the money lost to our economy because of the existence of bureaucrats. True, this is a horribly simplistic calculation. And it ignores the fact that bureaucrats reduce value in the economy. And it ignores the fact that since many bureaucrats are highly educated, they could in fact create even more money per person, so I'm willing to stand by my calculation. The U.S. could have an economy 12% larger than it is. All we have to do is free the bureaucrats.