The S&L graph is in current dollars, not inflation-adjusted dollars. http://research.stlo...ries/SLCE?cid=107 Any inflation at all would cause a graph to be shaped like that. Any population growth at all would cause a graph to be shaped like that. Since we've had both, it's not surprising that the curve is exponential. It doesn't say anything about the relative burden over time since it's just raw numbers, not normalized to GDP or inflation or whatever.

"... against a population that is static." What? The US population increased a lot over the last 50+ years. I've seen no evidence that US population growth is going to stop in my lifetime. What are you trying to say here?

"... clearly unsustainable." You have funny glasses if you think that graph "clearly" supports an argument about unsustainability. Why not accept the fact that tax revenue fell through the floor due to the recession, and recall that S&Ls can't run deficits so as tax revenues fall spending has to fall, rather than making up stuff about some crushing government burden on the economy?

Cheers,
Scott.