I’d settle for 20%

If we could be sure it would stay at 20%, that is. What 20%, you ask? The size of government as a percentage of GDP. This guy says that’s right around the optimal size:

That’s via Ed Morrissey, who says:

Richard Rahn, an economist at Cato, created the Rahn Curve to show the diminishing growth of an economy when government gets too large. …

The good news? We’ve found the Golden Mean of Government. According to 1998 testimony to Congress, it’s a total amount of government cost that consumes roughly 17.5% of GDP, presumably efficiently. The bad news? The last time we had a government that ate only 17.5% of GDP was … 1965.

Here’s the Rahn Curve:

It’s a lot like the Laffer Curve, if you’re familiar with that. If not: what am I, a college professor? You’re sitting at a computer. Friggin’ google it.

In a different window, of course. You don’t want to click away from TrogloPundit.

Watch the video. In the second half, the guy talking casts doubt on whether government should even reach the 17.5% mark. After all, it was about 10% up until the 1930s. Would the U.S. economy have grown faster, he asks, if that had been doubled all that time?

Doesn’t seem likely.