Importantly, Defense and Homeland Security spending has been rising in the wake of the attacks on September 11th. "Throughout the postwar era, the federal budget has been able to accommodate steady growth in benefit spending in part by cutting back on all other domestic spending including investment [...] but most of all by cutting back on defense. From 1960 to 2000, federal benefits grew from 4.7 to 10.8 percent of GDP. Meanwhile, defense outlays fell from 9.3 to 3.0 percent of GDP [...]." (24). Since 2001 however, Defense spending has increased, and is expected to continue to do so.

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