Economic principles can explain every part of the criminal justice system. Laws create incentives for people to act in certain ways. Many criminals choose illegal activities when legal options are available. The hidden cost of crime for the society is the resources spent on its prevention. This course will examine decisions by potential criminals; full costs of crime and punishment; allocation of criminal justice resources and some public policies, such as drug legalization, death penalty, private prisons, gun control, and intellectual property rights. Basic economics concepts will be introduced: opportunity costs, supply and demand, market equilibrium, externalities. This course is based on online materials. Suggested schedule: one HW per week to meet the term-end deadline.
Textbook in pdf : Winter, Economics of Crime
Module topic, study links, homeworks
1. Crime statistics and economics
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_in_the_United_States – answer to some HW1 questions are here
- US Prison Population: The Largest in the World -video
- Why are so many Americans in prison? -slate
- Scarcity & Choice – video
- Resources – video
- Graph review -video
- Grades, graphs and opportunity costs – video on tradeoffs
- Opportunity Cost – definition and examples
- Berry picking & diminishing returns – marginal thinking in econ
- Crime crash course – video
-
Thomas Sowell – The Economics of Crime – youtube audio
Crime data sources – find any stats here:
- BOJ crime and punishment statistics – use ‘quick tables’ & ‘topics’
- FBI Uniform Crime Reports – data
- NCVS Victimization Survey – data
- New York State criminal justice statistics
- Violent deaths, US compared to other countries – article
- Homework 1
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2. Rational criminals
- Read chapter 1 of the textbook
- Crime, from the encyclopedia of economics by Friedman
- Rational Criminals –Friedman, chapter in Hidden Order: The economics of Everyday Life
- Butler, The economic analysis for lawyers -read ch A and B
- Stealing A Few Moments For CRIME -Pedestrian Guide to Econ
- Slate: Does Crime Pay? – Yes, for some
- Crime: Costs and Benefits and Econ of Cheating-by Stonebraker
- Ariely: Why we think it’s OK to cheat and steal (sometimes)
- Homework 2
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3. Illegal markets and efficient fines
- read ch 2 of the textbook
- The parable of the broken window – opportunity cost example
- Butler, The economic analysis for lawyers -read ch C and D
- Levitt, 2004.”Understanding Why Crime Fell in the 1990s: 4 Factors That Explain the Decline and 6 That Do Not.”
- Market in simple terms -legal or illegal, video
- Demand – video
- Change in Demand vs Change in Quantity Demanded -video
- Supply – video
- Market Equilibrium – video
- Textbook chapter: Demand and Supply – Hubbard & O’Brien
- Homework 3
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4. Deterrence and full burden of crime
- read ch 3 of the textbook
- NYTimes: 1 in 100 U.S. Adults Behind Bars
- Why Is the U.S. Prison Population So Large? -learnliberty
- Mass incarceration in US – crashcourse 4min
- The racism of mass incarceration – 2min
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incarceration_in_the_United_States
- Externalities – video
- Externalities – Encyclopedia of economics
- Externalities: When Is a Potato Chip Not Just a Potato Chip?
- Does having a strip club in your neighborhood increase crime rates? – example of negative externality
- Anderson, 1999. “The Aggregate Burden of Crime.” JLE paper
- Estimating full cost of crime – browse the entire pdf file here
- Safety in Numbers – multiplier effect, read this chapter
- Priceless life? – read this chapter
- Homework 4
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5. Death penalty and private deterrence
- read ch4,6 of the textbook
- How Tough is Too Tough? – by Stonebraker
- David Friedman, Why Not Hang Them All: The Virtues of Inefficient Punishment, JPE 1999
- Making jails safer – D.Fullard on dysfunctional punishment
- Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence –anti-gun
- National Rifle Association –pro-gun
- Mass shootings in US – map & article
- Number of guns per capita by country – wikipedia
- Who Makes Money From Private Prisons? – youtube
- Homework 5
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6. Race and social reforms
- read ch 5,8
- Racial Inequality in the Criminal Justice System – LearnLiberty
- The released – PBS program
- When kids get life – PBS series
- The confessions -PBS video
- Killer bread business by an Ex-Con – narrated slides, inc.com
- Crimesolutions.gov – programs that work, nat’l institute justice
- Slate: The Irrational 18-Year-Old Criminal – ineffective prisons
- Slate: Reform School –Five myths about prison growth
- The Rich Get Richer and the Poor Get Prison -critical opinion
- American Criminal Justice System -critical opinion
- Incentives can reduce recidivism – fortune
- Slate: Going Down Swinging -three-strikes & more violent crime
- Homework 6
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7. Drugs
- read ch7
- War on drugs – set of short videos, learnliberty
- World Drug Report 2013 – United Nations
- Supply-Side Drug Policy: Will it Ever Work? – read this chapter
- Job Fix / Crack Economy with Paul Solman
- Levitt: Why do crack dealers live with their mothers? -video
- Why violent criminals walking free?– LearnLiberty
- Canales: The deadly genius of drug cartels – TED, supply, demand, distribution networks, business model, org structure
- How Weed Works: THC – scishow
- PBS video and Marijuana Economics
- PBS Frontline: “Drug Wars”
- Illicit drug issues by country, CIA
- Drug threat assessment – DEA info on cartels
- US Drug Enforcement Administration
- What if Marijuana Were Decriminalized? -Freakonomics
- DEATH FOR DRUGS IN SINGAPORE, B Caplan
- The Drug War Goes Up in Smoke, the Nation, 2003
- Drug Policy Alliance in favor of legalization
- National Institute on Drug Abuse
- The Secret of Worldwide Drug Prohibition by Harry G. Levine
- Drug cartels in Colombia -PBS
- www.DrugWarFacts.org
- Milton Friedman – Why Drugs Should Be Legalized – interview with Nobel prize free market economist
- Levitt, Venkatesh,”Are we a family or a business? History and disjuncture in the urban American street gang.”
- Levitt, Venkatesh, “An Economic Analysis of a Drug-Selling Gang’s Finances.” QJE
- Homework 7
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8. Technology and crime
- Misha Glenny investigates global crime networks – TED
- Napoleoni: The economics of terrorism – TED, $1.5 trillion, money laundering and the US Patriot Act
- FBI Financial Crimes Report, 2010-2011
- Online crime: www.antiphishing.org
- Goodman: A vision of crimes in the future –technology & crime
- Michio Kaku: The Dark Side of Technology
- Cyberwar – ted ed
- US Department of Justice Anti-Trust Division
- Dan Ariely’s Animated Talk : How and Why We’re All Dishonest
- Dan Ariely: Our buggy moral code -TED talk
- Gilbert: Why we make bad decisions – TED, people make mistakes
- Intellectual Property Law – what is IP from legal point of view?
- Everything is a Remix – The trouble with intellectual property – new ideas start with copying
- Homework 8
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Final project (6-7 pages)
The goal of this research assignment is to develop expertise in some narrow issue within economics of crime. Using online resources in this course and your own sources, research one of the controversial public policy issues in criminal justice. Try to answer some of the questions below. To strengthen your project, research 3-4 recent published articles by economists on a topic of your choice and describe their findings. Use JSTOR article database on ESC library site, choose ‘Economics’ and your keywords in advanced search.
- Why is this an important issue? Record several interesting numbers (related arrests, affected parties, size / structure of the market, parties affected by the law, spending on enforcement or something else)
- Identify a controversial issue. Describe both sides of the debate.
- What’s wrong with the current state of affairs?
- If a particular law related to this issue is passed, what are the benefits and who receives them? what are the costs and who bears them?
- Given your own assessment of costs and benefits, how should the issue be resolved?
- What alternative public policies would you suggest if the proposed law is not feasible or not desirable? Explain.
Examples of topics:
- Research a specific problem or injustice in our criminal justice system.
- Lessons from drug legalization in Colorado or another state, or a different country (Portugal).
- How do terrorists finance their operations? The Atlantic has some links in this article.
- Why is crime so high in Latin America? – Insightcrime.org
- What has been the experience of US states with legalized marijuana?
- How can we improve the cost-effectiveness of prisons? or police?
- Does education of prisoners reduce recidivism?
- Is Racial Profiling an Acceptable Law Enforcement Strategy?
- Should prostitution be legalized?
- Based on the experience of any other country with decriminalization of hard drug(s) – has decriminalization resulted in more and less crime?
- What do we know about labor market outcomes for individuals with criminal records?
Alternatively, your final project may be a reaction paper to a book. Choose your own book and get it approved, or use one of these:
- Carl Hart, High price. Find talks by the author online.
- Marc Goodman, Future Crimes (book)
- Moskos, Cop in the Hood (book)
- HBO, The Wire, any season (Netflix)
- Manda Bala -full film in Portuguese with subtitles about crime in Brazil.
- David Friedman, Law’s Order: What Economics Has to Do With Law and Why It Matters” – online book
- Predictive policing – ebook on using data in solving crime
- Chicago gang violence The Interrupters – documentary online
Questions for the reaction paper
- Summarize the story.
- What is the author’s main message? What central questions is the author trying to answer?
- Why is this issue important? Give examples, numbers and quotes to illustrate your point.
- What interesting facts have you learned? What types of crime are described in the story?
- What part of the issue is controversial? Why? What is your stand on the controversial issue(s)?
- How can the society set up incentives to reduce these types of crimes?
- You may choose to discuss in detail one salient aspect of the policing/punishment system that needs improvement, as illustrates in the book/film.
- How is the issue raised in the book relevant today? What current news and events illustrate its importance? Do your own mini internet research on this topic. Use examples, numbers, and quote your sources.
Research resources to help you find and develop topic for your project:
- EU Fundamental rights data visualization
- Knowles, Persico, and Todd (2001). ” Racial Bias in Motor Vehicle Searches: Theory and Evidence.”
- United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime
- The Causes of Wrongful Conviction, By Paul Craig Roberts
- Levitt and Miles, 2006. Download “Economic Contribution to the Understanding of Crime.”
- Cigarette Taxes, Black Markets, and Crime: Lessons from New York’s 50-Year Losing Battle, by Patrick Fleenor
- Annual Survey of Jails
- Levitt’s articles
- Posner’s articles
- Criminal Justice Resources
- Legal Affairs debates
- PBS Frontline videos online – select “Criminal Justice” under “Stories by Category”
- Bushway and Reuter, “Economists’ Contribution to the Study of Crime and the Criminal Justice System”.
- Freakonomics blog, click and search for “crime”
- Center of Juvenile Criminal Justice – policies
- Encyclopedia of Law and Economics online
- Michigan State University Libraries, Criminal Justice Resources
- Amnesty International http://www.amnesty.org/
- Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation
- The Hacker Crackdown, Law and Disorder on the Electronic Frontier, by B.Sterling
- John Jay media and crime center resources
- Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault
- Criminology text with lots of links
- CrimeTimes 1995-2010 – on brain dysfunction and crime –irrational crime?
- Should suicide be legalized? – PBS video
- Interrogations – PBS video
- Why ‘I Have Nothing to Hide’ Is the Wrong Way to Think About Surveillance
- Fryer R, Heaton P, Levitt S, Murphy K. Measuring Crack Cocaine and Its Impact. – PDF
- Does Speed Kill? – by Stonebraker
- Slate: Illegal Contact – watching football leads to violence?
- Levitt, Venkatesh, 2001, Download “Growing Up in the Projects: The Economic Lives of a Cohort of Men Who Came of Age in Chicago Public Housing.”
- “Threat and Humiliation: Racial Profiling, National Security, and Human Rights in the United States” – amnesty international
- Illegal market for adopted children
- Cato Institute research areas
- Economics of Online Crime– article pdf
- Illegal immigration: By a Back Door to the U.S.: A Migrant’s Grim Sea Voyage – NYT 2008
- PBS Dangerous business – story with video
- Jacob, Levitt (2003). Download” Catching Cheating Teachers: The Results of an Unusual Experiment in Implementing Theory.”
- Levitt, Dubner, Download “What the Bagel Man Saw,” NYTimes Magazine, 2004
- National Youth Gang Center
- Wacquant’s article on Prisons
- Pettit and Western on Prison and the Life Course
- The Daily Show about gun control, and One more episode, 2013
- Death penalty
- World map: a look at where, around the world, the death penalty is still used and where it has been abolished.
- Human Rights, American Bar Association, 2007 – read Featured Stories
- The Death Penalty Debate: Philosophical & Religious Views
- Anti-Death Penalty Info Center – read “Facts”
- Pro-Death Penalty info
- Death penalty resources
- Capital punishment from Wikipedia
- Death investigation – PBS video
- Death penalty case – PBS video
- Katz, Levitt, Shustorovich, 2006. Download “Prison Conditions, Capital Punishment, and Deterrence.”
- Corporations that make millions on incarceration – billmoyers
- Becker’s biggest mistake – crime needs different approach
- Fagan & Freeman, Crime and Work, Crime & Justice,1999
- Cigarette Taxes, Black Markets, and Crime: Lessons from New York’s 50-Year Losing Battle – pros and cons of a tax
- Criminology course – James Cook
- NBER economics of crime – recent research papers