To understand the gaping financial chasm that has opened up between Britain and America in 2024, you could do worse than speak to Chris CeBallos. The 59-year-old is a police officer from Arlington, a Cardiff-sized city between Fort Worth and Dallas, Texas — and makes $104,000 a year. In pure currency terms, this converts to £83,000; by comparison, the highest police constable pay outside London is just shy of £50,000.
A veteran patrolman, CeBallos’s package includes comprehensive healthcare and generous pension contributions from the city worth 14 per cent of his salary. In two years, when he has reached 30 years of service, he will retire comfortably to his four-bedroom home on three-quarters of an acre to spend more time with his wife and teenage
