Four years ago, I wrote a book about modern American liberalism: Never Enough: America's Limitless Welfare State. It addressed the fact that the U.S.'s welfare state has been growing steadily for almost a century, and now is much bigger than it was at the start of the New Deal in 1932, or at the beginning of the Great Society in 1964. In 2013, the Federal government spent 2.279 trillion dollars-$7,200 per American, two-thirds of all Federal outlays, and 14% of the gross domestic product-on the five big program areas that make up our welfare state: Social Security; all other income support programs, such as disability insurance or unemployment compensation; Medicare; all other health programs, such as Medicaid; and all programs for education, job training, and social services.
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