The Free Enterprise Nation is a group dedicated to publicising details of excessive US government spending in the hope of challenging public ambivalence. It is certainly unlikely that Federal employees themselves will want to rein things in – their average annual wages and benefits are twice the $59,000 made in the private sector, according to the FEN. But investors might want to ponder the implications for a continuation of the status quo.

The reality is that the current level of Federal spending is not sustainable, assuming a lack of appetite in Washington for more debt. In September, the total number of people in employment stood at 131m, slightly below the average level for the year 2000. The Congressional Budget Office predicts that Federal receipts this year will be $2,100bn, only 4 per cent higher than the total levied nine years ago. Outlays of $3,500bn, however, will be almost double the $1,800bn spent at the start of the decade.