# Need a resource, hopefully a link

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-a-resource-hopefully-a-link/151713>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [January 30, 2003, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-a-resource-hopefully-a-link/151713 "2003-01-30T20:46:12Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\
**Post date:** [January 30, 2003, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-a-resource-hopefully-a-link/151713/1 "2003-01-30T20:46:12Z")

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I’m looking for something you would think is very simple:

I want to know how much the United States federal government spent, overall, by calendar or fiscal year, from 1980 on. Something like:

FY1982: $17 jillion  
FY1983: $164 grillion  
FY1984: $500 villion

I don’t need a per year breakdown; just a list of years and total expenditures. And yet I absolutely cannot find such a thing no matter how many Googles I do. Anyone got a line on this?

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**Author:** ![jonfromdenver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/82dd89/32.png) [@jonfromdenver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jonfromdenver)\
**Post date:** [January 30, 2003, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-a-resource-hopefully-a-link/151713/2 "2003-01-30T20:54:07Z")

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The best I could find was annual reports to taxpayers for the last five years:

[http://policy.house.gov/annreport/](http://policy.house.gov/annreport/)

It shows total revenues and expenses for each year from 1997 to 2001. I don’t know where to find earlier ones.

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**Author:** ![TeleTronOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4af34b/32.png) [@TeleTronOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TeleTronOne)\
**Post date:** [January 30, 2003, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-a-resource-hopefully-a-link/151713/3 "2003-01-30T22:51:15Z")

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If you write the folks at the Library of Congress a really nice email they might tell you. If anybody knows how to dig that sort of thing up, they do.

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**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\
**Post date:** [January 30, 2003, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-a-resource-hopefully-a-link/151713/4 "2003-01-30T23:14:43Z")

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I found this:

[http://www.utahfoundation.org/stat\_review/Section\_C/UF%20Stat%20Review%20Table%20C4%200101.PDF](http://www.utahfoundation.org/stat_review/Section_C/UF%20Stat%20Review%20Table%20C4%200101.PDF)

However, please note: [ul][_]I know nothing of the source.[_]It only covers through 1995.It covers “expenditures _in the United States_” (emphasis added), which may or may not be total expenditures.[/ul]

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**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\
**Post date:** [January 31, 2003, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-a-resource-hopefully-a-link/151713/5 "2003-01-31T03:05:42Z")

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**Rick**. I think this link [http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2003/pdf/hist.pdf](http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2003/pdf/hist.pdf)

will help. I don’t vouch for the info. Good luck.