Independent Institute Research Fellow Emily Skarbek is interviewed here by Nick Gillespie of Reason TV regarding the Institute’s very timely and far-reaching Government Cost Calculator.

The Calculator enables any American to clearly understand three aspects of federal government spending. First, the Calculator helps you determine how much a person will pay for various federal programs now and over the course of a lifetime. Second, it compares those tax payments to the forgone earnings that would have been possible if such funds were kept and invested in private market accounts. Finally, the Calculator enables you to see the difference between government expenditures and your tax payments, clearly illustrating the growing debt obligations you face in the future. Unlike total or “per capita” government debt calculators currently available, the Calculator personalizes government spending, enabling you to see how much federal programs are costing you now and how much they will cost you in the future.

You can then break down federal spending into twenty-two areas to further explore exactly what the comparative costs mean and then pursue the issues further in numerous books, articles, etc.