The Carsey School of Public Policy at the University of New Hampshire recently released version 2.0 of its FedGovSpendTM Explorer app.
In version 1.0 users could see spending for each area of government spending one year at a time. Now, recent trends across multiple years can be seen. Version 1.0 showed spending organized by the purpose it serves (health, national defense, education, etc) or spending type (mandatory or discretionary). Those views are still available, but now users can also choose to see spending presented by agency and the unit of the federal government that spends it. They can stop at the big agencies (Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Defense, etc.) or dig deeper. They can, for example, explore the Department of Education–looking into smaller bureaus, administrations, and programs such as the Office of Federal Student Aid or Disaster Education Recovery. Several other improvements are also included in the updated version of the app.
Originally released summer of 2021, the FedGovSpendTM Explorer app was developed by Michael Ettlinger, Director of the Carsey School, and Jordan Hensley, a policy analyst at Carsey. Using data from the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) Public Budget Database and the Congressional Budget Office's (CBO) Budget and Economic Data, the app features an easily operated interface, through which users can navigate U.S. federal spending displayed in colorful pie charts.
The app is available to download for free on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.
If you are at all interested in how U.S. government spending breaks down, there isn’t a simpler tool to use than this app.
“If you are at all interested in how U.S. government spending breaks down, there isn’t a simpler tool to use than this app,” describes Michael Ettlinger. “We developed it with simplicity and the everyday user in mind. Version two builds on that purpose by incorporating more user friendly components and by adding features that users of the app said would help them in understanding what the federal government does and how spending is changing.”
With the FedGovSpendTM Explorer app each category, agency, and spending purpose is accompanied by a simple explanation available at a tap of the screen. All descriptions now include a comparison chart of year-to-year amounts so one can see how spending in a given area has changed over time.
Visit the app webpage to learn more about the data organized within the app and for a more detailed explanation of its functionality. You can also sign up for emails to receive new update announcements for the FedGovSpendTM Explorer app.
About the Carsey School of Public Policy: The Carsey School of Public Policy is nationally recognized for research, policy education, and bringing people together for thoughtful dialogue to address important societal challenges. To its core, the Carsey School is about making positive change and bringing about a more sustainable future. Learn more at Carsey.unh.edu.
