The economic behaviour of local authorities

The increasing relative size of the local government sector over the last thirty five years is reasonably well known. Since 1946 the gross domestic product in money terms has increased by a factor of about 14, while total local authority expenditures, in money terms, have increased by a factor of 25. In line with this expenditure growth the number employed by local government has grown from 1.3 million in 1948 to 2.7 million in 1976. These figures certainly represent a growing local authority sector and they have been used to argue that this local government growth is indeed excessive.