The United States spends a lot more on schools than on police, especially when you consider that the share of school-aged kids in the population is shrinking.

www.slowboring.com/p/america-spends-a-lot-more-on-schools?s=w

Compared to international peers, our level of police spending is very average and normal.

www.slowboring.com/p/america-spends-a-lot-more-on-schools?s=w

Compared to international peers, our level of K-12 education spending is also very normal.

www.slowboring.com/p/america-spends-a-lot-more-on-schools?s=w

There obviously are areas where US public spending is much stingier than what you see in Europe, but the difference is that taxes are higher — there’s no pot of gold underneath the police station to build a comprehensive welfare state.

www.slowboring.com/p/european-countries-have-really-high?s=w

Nothing about these facts determines what the right level of police spending is, but I think it’s important for people to have an accurate sense of the scale — American police spending is in line with global norms and not that large relative to other public endeavors.