Booting Earth Optimization System
Thank you for your patience. Your civilization is very important to us.
Thank you for your patience. Your civilization is very important to us.
Government Size
This view asks a different question from OBG: how much total government spending is consistent with strong direct welfare outcomes in the cross-country panel, before we even argue about composition.
Ask a government to keep you alive: that is one number. Ask it to keep you alive and not poor: that is a bigger one. Governments find this distinction surprising. Both numbers are below.
Combined Direct Welfare
23.4%
US-equivalent spending share
Band 22.5% to 24.3%
18 qualifying jurisdictions
Healthy Life Expectancy Only
20.1%
US-equivalent spending share
Band 18.2% to 22.5%
29 qualifying jurisdictions
Median Income Only
27.8%
US-equivalent spending share
Band 24.3% to 44.7%
16 qualifying jurisdictions
| Window | Floor | Band | US status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 to 2023primary | 23.4% | 22.5% - 24.3% | above optimal band |
| 1995 to 2023 | 27.8% | 24.3% - 44.7% | within optimal band |
| 2000 to 2023 | 22.0% | 20.0% - 24.3% | above optimal band |
Countries that spend little and keep their people alive anyway. On my planet we call that the whole job.
Finland
2 qualifying observations
$19,030
37.5% GDP
Denmark
5 qualifying observations
$19,082
39.9% GDP
Norway
2 qualifying observations
$19,373
33.0% GDP
France
3 qualifying observations
$19,755
49.1% GDP
This composition model is federal-budget only; the category table below is constrained to the current federal budget even though standalone category optima sum to a different total.
Education
281.9% reallocation · target share 13.5%
Income Security (SNAP, Housing)
61.4% reallocation · target share 7.3%
Science & Space (NASA, NSF)
217.0% reallocation · target share 3.8%
Community & Regional Development
102.4% reallocation · target share 1.2%
Energy Programs
56.1% reallocation · target share 1.2%
Military
-59.7% reallocation · target share 5.3%
Category budgets
See where every federal dollar should go.
Efficiency rankings
See which countries get more life per dollar.
Optimization Dividend
See what the savings put in your household's pocket.
Numbers refreshed 4/6/2026 from the current government-size analysis.