Notice the climb during the early 1970s recession. Then, strangely, a decline starts in 1978 and continues through the Reagan recovery of the 1980s.
There is a ramp up associated with the early 1990s, which declines briefly in the mid-1990s during the tech boom, but still increases.
There is ramp up in the early 2000s recession, followed by a slight decline during the mid 2000s recovery, but still not a decline.
Then there is a dramatic ramp up in the Obama economic depression.
I don't need a PhD in economics, or a supercomputer to do a regression analysis to see the obvious correlation of negative macroeconomic conditions and positive SSDI/SSI applications and recipients.
Think about it. We have nearly tripled the ration of disability recipients to workers in the last 45 years. Add to that the dramatic increase in Social Security and Medicare recipients due to the aging population, the dramatic growth of non-defense government workers, and the dramatic growth of other entitlements (SNAP, TANF, WIC, Extended UEI, Medicaid, and now Obamacare subsidies).
We are going to reach the point where every person working paying for one government worker or non-working beneficiary, and also subsidizing one non-taxpaying low-income worker who receives payment in kind government benefits.
The deficit exploded under the first year of Obama, but declined as TARP and Stimulus ran their course. But it is being set up to explode again. And unlike TARP and Stimulus, these programs do not end.