One of the remaining gaps in the quantitative record of U.S. economic history is detailed information on the fiscal activities of state and local governments. Annual time-series data on federal revenues and expenditures are available from 1789 on, but similar information on state and local governments is sparse, particularly before 1900. This project will close the statistical gap by developing annual time series of revenues and expenditures for each state, and decennial estimates for the revenues and expenditures of local governments, supplemented by a separate series of large cities. These series will indicate overall levels of fiscal activity as well as the sources and uses of funds. State documents, published and unpublished, will furnish the basis for the complete state-level series. Local government estimates are based on a sampling procedure. The results of this project will include an analysis of the fiscal history of state and local government. The data base created during the course of this project will be made publicly available through the Interuniversity Consortium for Political and Social Research. This data base is invaluable because it will establish for the first time a solid, quantitative basis for estimating the overall share of government in the economy throughout U.S. history and the role of government in the nation's development.
