[Economics] Myth Fat State - Investment

Siehe auch:
[Wirtschaft] Mythos Fetter Staat - Investitionen

The myth of a large and ever-expanding state is being perpetuated all too often these days. Minimalist state advocates and libertarians such as Milei, Musk, and Krall are making their ideas very popular. The key values are presented below.

[1, UVGD] [2] [3]

First it becomes clear that the federal budget is continuously declining relative to GDP. And federal investment relative to GDP also declined until around 2000. In 1969 federal investment relative to GDP was still at almost 5%. Since 2000 federal investment relative to GDP has been only about 1%.

[1, UVGD] [2] [3]

Since certain tasks are always the responsibility of the federal government the federal investment expenditures can serve directly as a basis for evaluation. Federal investment includes among other things the maintenance of railways and highways and federal roads. However if federal investment declines a decline in value due to aging and wear and tear is inevitable. Given the declining expenditures the noticeably poor condition of public infrastructure in Germany is not surprising.

[1, UVGD] [2] [3]

The common claim that foreign aid is out of control does not stand up to closer scrutiny. For the available period, foreign aid has consistently remained at less than 1% of GDP. Only as a share of the federal budget has foreign aid actually increased. This is also the case because the federal budget has declined relative to GDP.

[Economics] Myth Fat State - Staff 2025-10-22
[Economics] Myth Fat State - Debt and Interest 2025-10-25
[Economics] Myth Fat State - Welfare State 2025-10-28
[Economics] Myth Fat State - Defense and Bundeswehr 2025-10-31

Src:
[1] AMECO database
https://economy-finance.ec.europa.eu/economic-research-and-databases/economic-databases/ameco-database_en
[2] Gesamtübersicht über die Entwicklung des Bundeshaushalts 1969 bis 2023
https://www.bundesfinanzministerium.de/Monatsberichte/Ausgabe/2024/03/Inhalte/Kapitel-6-Statistiken/6-1-11-gesamtuebersicht-entwicklung-bundeshaushalt.html
[3] Entwicklungszusammenarbeit - Öffentliche Entwicklungsleistungen Deutschlands
https://www.destatis.de/DE/Themen/Staat/Oeffentliche-Finanzen/Entwicklungszusammenarbeit/Tabellen/oeffentliche-entwicklungsleistungen.html