According to the Federal German basic law the Federal
government, the Laender and the local authorities have different
tasks to fulfil. In the early 1980s the main areas of Federal
government expenditure were social security and defense. The
Laender spent most on education and the municipalities on the
health service. From the 1950s onwards there has been a tendency
for the Federal government to intervene in the financial affairs of
the Laender, assisting in costly higher educational reform
programmes, the improvement of the regional economic structure
and the agricultural sector.