1. A bad graph. I know it is an government website and not something you produced, I need to call it out.
From 1970 to 1980, the metric jumped to 300% (an increase of 200%).
From 1980 to 1990, the metric jumped to 210% (an increase of 110%).
Whereas from 2010 to 2020 (just before covid), the metric jumped about to about 190% (an increase of 90%). But this is not obvious on the graph.
They should use log scale.
2. The covid jump is something else. But I can understand why they spent money then.
(Even from 1960s to 1970s they went up by 100% or to 200%, so I buy your point, just do not like the FRed's visualization)
Edit: Just plotted these in Excel. Bush-1 and Clinton-1 were the only years with flat curve on logarithmic basis, every other era is a gradual increase.
I plotted the growth of the above mentioned data, and I compared each value with its value exactly 4 years back. So I compared Jan 1, 2022 with Jan 1, 2018. The idea is to see if there are trends based on presidential terms or crises. Since the data is still plotted monthly, you can pick and choose an arbitrary start date - some people say it takes time for presidencies to show results, so whatever yardstick you use, use it for all. Rest: see for yourself as long as these links are allowed :(
From 1970 to 1980, the metric jumped to 300% (an increase of 200%). From 1980 to 1990, the metric jumped to 210% (an increase of 110%). Whereas from 2010 to 2020 (just before covid), the metric jumped about to about 190% (an increase of 90%). But this is not obvious on the graph.
They should use log scale.
2. The covid jump is something else. But I can understand why they spent money then.
(Even from 1960s to 1970s they went up by 100% or to 200%, so I buy your point, just do not like the FRed's visualization)
Edit: Just plotted these in Excel. Bush-1 and Clinton-1 were the only years with flat curve on logarithmic basis, every other era is a gradual increase.