Driven by the rise of the welfare state (particularly increased spending for pension and health care), the ratio between public spending and GDP increased by about 20 percentage points between the early 1960s and the early 1980s (essentially stabilizing since then, as shown in Chart 2).
He said the list would be led by a patients' bill of rights and expansion of Medicare, increased spending for education, pension reform and an increase in the minimum wage.
Without new growth produced by low interest rates in the later part of this decade, the government will struggle to meet demands for increased spending on pensions for the country's aging population.
Mr. Garcetti and Ms. Perry have returned the attacks by accusing Ms. Greuel of being too beholden to the city's public workers' unions to bring down spending for labor and pensions.
Already, about one-fifth of state general spending goes to pay for pensions and service debts, a proportion that will soar in coming years.
Spain has set out its austerity budget for 2013, with new spending cuts but protection for pensions, amid a shrinking economy and 25% unemployment.
"Following recent proposals by the Greek government to spend additional fiscal resources for pensions and VAT, our governing bodies have put their decisions temporarily on hold," said a spokesman for the ESM, referring to a deal that would have deferred an interest rate increase on Greece's debt.
Spending on pensions for private-sector workers in the formal economy has tripled as a share of Brazil's GDP since 1988.
Mark Serwotka, general secretary of the Public and Commercial Services Union, said pressure from public sector workers will mean the government will "have to have a rethink" on their plans for pensions and spending cuts.
His 2019 budget proposed more spending for social care and pensions, and higher taxes for companies and the rich.
