How Do You Spend $586 billion?

(Export Development Canada – Peter G. Hall)

Crisis brought on a torrent of public stimulus announcements last year. Plans are being implemented, and the impact on growth is huge. But in the rush to declare the recession over, there is also concern that stimulus not be withdrawn too quickly. Good advice, given the math of stimulus spending.

Add it all up, and one thing is clear: total stimulus is big. For OECD nations as a whole, pump-priming measures sum to just under 4% of GDP. The big spenders are South Korea, at 6.1% of GDP, the US at 5.6% and Australia at 5.4%. Canada matches the G-7 average, at 4.1%. But once again, the high drama is in certain key emerging markets. China’s splashy $586 billion stimulus plan is a whopping 13% of GDP, and South Africa’s, a staggering 30% of its GDP. Not new info, but still amazing.

Read more or watch the video here.