Great Recession: major economy government expenditure as a share of GDP 2007-2011

During the financial crisis of 2007-2008 and the subsequent recession, many of the world's largest countries increased their government expenditure in order to backstop financial markets, provide a stimulus to the non-financial economy, or to bail-out companies and institutions which were in danger of bankruptcy. China and the United States led the way in stimulus spending, as the Chinese announced a package worth 600 billion U.S. dollars in 2008, while the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) in the U.S. had a combined announced value of around 1.5 trillion U.S. dollars. The increase in China's government expenditure was particularly notable, as it represented an increase of almost one-third from 2007 to 2009.