Squeegee Economics
Steven D. Levitt, an economist at the University of Chicago with the new book, Freakonomics (second in popularity on Amazon only to Harry Potter), calls into question the commonly held wisdom from 1990s New York City that you take back the streets from squeegee men and drug dealers, and you curb violent crime:
Professor Levitt considers the New York crime story to be an urban legend. Yes, he acknowledges, there are tipping points when people suddenly start acting differently, but why did crime drop in so many other cities that weren't using New York's policing techniques? His new book, written with Stephen J. Dubner, concludes that one big reason was simply the longer prison sentences that kept criminals off the streets of New York and other cities.The prison terms don't explain why crime fell sooner and more sharply in New York than elsewhere, but Professor Levitt accounts for that, too. One reason he cites is that the crack epidemic eased earlier in New York than in other cities. Another, more important, reason is that New York added lots of cops in the early 90's.
But the single most important cause, he says, was an event two decades earlier: the legalization of abortion in New York State in 1970, three years before it was legalized nationally by the Supreme Court.
The result, he maintains, was a huge reduction in the number of children who would have been at greater than average risk of becoming criminals during the 1990's. Growing up as an unwanted child is itself a risk factor, he says, and the women who had abortions were disproportionately likely to be unmarried teenagers with low incomes and poor education -- factors that also increase the risk.
Again, if the "pro-life" people were truly pro-life, they'd all be out adopting crack babies. But, it really isn't about life, is it? It's about forcing their ideology on the rest of us. Thanks, but no thanks.
Thanks for mentioning this. As an Economics major, it looks particularly interesting.
M at April 18, 2005 2:01 PM
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