By Bryan Rahija

Your number of the day: $87, as in the financial benefit to the government for every $1 invested in the Government Accountability Office (GAO), according to, well, the GAO.

From Thursday's testimony before the House Subcommittee on the Legislative Branch:

With this committee’s support, in fiscal year 2010, GAO provided assistance to every standing congressional committee and 70 percent of their subcommittees. Our work yielded significant results across the government, including financial benefits of $49.9 billion—a return on investment of $87 for every dollar invested in GAO. In addition, we documented over 1,300 other benefits resulting from our work that helped improve services to the public, promote improved management throughout government and change laws, such as the Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Act of 2010.

Obviously it's difficult to quantify the financial benefits of oversight. But even if the GAO brings $40, $20 or $10 of financial benefit for every dollar of funding, it's worth noting—especially in times of fiscal duress—that investing in oversight can be a boon for taxpayers.

Bryan Rahija edits POGO's blog.

Image by Flickr user Leo Reynolds, used under Creative Commons License.