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There seems to me to be very little discussion about why the Civil Service was created in the first place, and how it benefits us to maintain that system rather than revert back to the spoils system.

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(I have a draft on this very thing if Steve and David want to publish it.)

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Send it on!

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Old Chester Arthur legacy

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My favorite president: Chester A. Arthur, father of the modern civil service.

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For reference:

Federal government employees have been at a fairly stable level of ~2-3mil personnel since 1955.

State government employees have increased from ~1mil in 1955 to 5.5mil.

Local government employees have increased from ~.3.5mil in 1955 to ~15mil.

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, with preliminary figures for Sep and Oct 2024.

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For charts from FRED:

Federal government employees, monthly: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CES9091000001

State government employees, monthly: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CES9092000001

Local government employees, monthly: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CES9093000001

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