"the prison budget is $80.7 billion (69.1 billion) per year, versus Brazil at around $4 billion. India, with the world's fourth-largest prison population, spends nearly $1 billion. Private corporations now profit from incarceration in many countries, from building cells to selling phone calls. Inside, organized crime syndicates run contraband empires and extortion rackets. Inmates, meanwhile, hustle for survival in an underground economy where ramen noodles are currency and labor pays just a few cents per hour."
"Most European, Asian and African countries have so far resisted privatization, with some emphasizing the importance of public accountability. The US government spends over $3.9 billion per year on private prisons, whose operators earn billions more from others services, including prisoner food, health care and telecommunications. These US prison essentials, known as commissary, are marked up by as much as 600%, while phone calls can cost families up to $16 for just 15 minutes."
Mass incarceration supports a costly parallel economy in which governments spend hundreds of billions to detain over 11.5 million people while private firms and organized crime extract revenue. National prison budgets vary widely: the US spends roughly $80.7 billion annually, Brazil about $4 billion, and India nearly $1 billion. Inmates survive through underground markets and low-paid labor; families face steep commissary and phone fees. Overcrowding affects 155 countries, with some facilities at 300–600% capacity. Privatization since the 1980s has expanded in several countries, raising accountability and exploitation concerns as services are heavily marked up.
Read at www.dw.com
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