…made me a little queasy. Conversely, although logic tells me that abortion as practiced in the U.S. doesn’t seem like such a great idea (see the end of the abortion…
The British art superstar Flora Yukhnovich, the Freakonomist Steve Levitt, and the upstart American Basketball Association were all unafraid to follow their joy — despite sneers from the Establishment. Should…
…much time talking about crime is a wonderful thing. It means that the nationwide crime downturn has allowed people to worry about other things — especially, at the moment, the…
…via Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) instead of checks (which are easily converted to crime-fueling cash): It has been long recognized that cash plays a critical role in fueling street crime…
Ellen Wiebe is a physician who helps seriously ill patients end their lives in Canada, where assisted suicide is legal. Is death a human right?
We now have more access to TV, movies, and streaming entertainment than anytime in history. So what do we actually know about what all that screen time does to us?…
It facilitates crime, bribery, and tax evasion – and yet some governments (including ours) are printing more cash than ever. Other countries, meanwhile, are ditching cash entirely. And if Star…
…outlet for young men and perhaps keeps them out of trouble. To the contrary, Roche contends, “the practice of sport never reduces the number of crimes” and, furthermore, sports can…
Also: are the most memorable stories less likely to be true? Stephen Dubner chats with Angela Duckworth in this classic episode from July 2020….
…factors missing from that list? Like, maybe, the increase in the prison population or legalized abortion, which I claim are the two most important drivers of the decline in crime?…
No one wants mass shootings. Unfortunately, no one has a workable plan to stop them either.
…judge’s decision was more influential than a change in public policy and law enforcement bodies in reducing crime in the U.S. I wish we could apply this “recipe” (allowing abortion…
…paper: Watching TV associates with higher estimates of crime prevalence among non-religious viewers (ordinary cultivation), but it is correlated with lower estimates of crime prevalence and lower assessment of victimization…
…find that where people are more impatient and discount the future more heavily, property and violent crimes are higher. In particular, the correlation between crime rates and time preferences is…
…sophisticated methods.” This is the UCLA math department’s second foray into crime investigations; last year, Bertozzi and her colleagues created a model to analyze crime “hot spots” in Los Angeles….
…enhancements resulted in a 25% drop in acquisitive crime – exactly the types of crimes that the affected offenders committed. Figure 1 illustrates the average impact of the policy in…
…crime rate the key to having a great baseball season? If so, maybe that’s why the Yankees haven’t won a Series in seven years: New York City crime has fallen…
…new study by Daniel Rees and Kevin Schnepel linking crime and sporting events. They analyze daily crime data, but instead of analyzing the changes around the release of new movies,…
…laws on crime through 2000 has been to lower crime by $28 billion nationally. But the same table reveals that Florida’s RTC laws alone experienced a crime cost reduction through…
Covid-19 is the biggest job killer in a century. As the lockdown eases, what does re-employment look like? Who will be first and who last? Which sectors will surge and…
…Morrison for forwarding me this link.) Freakonomics Trivia Question: Which of the Freakonomics authors, as a child, drew “abortion is murder” posters to aid his mother’s fight against legalized abortion?…
Tom Dart is transforming Cook County’s jail, reforming evictions, and, with Steve Levitt, trying a new approach to electronic monitoring….
…that this is a hard question. You can’t just look across states and compare incarceration rates and crime rates, because the places with the worst crime problem will also tend…
The junior U.S. Senator from New Jersey thinks bipartisanship is right around the corner. Is he just an idealistic newbie or does he see a way forward that everyone else…
He argues that personal finance is so simple all you need to know can fit on an index card. How will he deal with Steve’s suggestion that Harold’s nine rules…
…your “Abortion Reduces Crime” study, I wondered whether the BB would demonstrate the inverse scenario. As you will note in this article from my local newspaper, it appears there is…
In many ways, the gender gap is closing. In others, not so much. And that’s not always a bad thing.
The economist Jens Ludwig on the culture of police departments, the politics of gun control, and why there’s no social progress without truth. To get Plus episodes, you can sign…
The Education Life supplement in yesterday’s Times included an intriguing article simply called “Data” and subtitled “Law and Order.” It listed crime statistics for roughly 120 urban college campuses across…
Despite the recession, the Associated Press reports, U.S. crime rates continue to fall in 2009 compared to last year. Sociologists and crime experts are citing the economic stimulus, people staying…
