Last week, as we were taking a cab to a meeting, coworkers and I had a discussion about crime in New York City, particularly how it's decreased quite a bit over the last several years. One person asked if we could identify the single biggest reason for its decline. After we guessed various reasons ranging from greater numbers of police and other factors emanating from the Giuliani administration (vs. Dinkens, we thought), the questioner stated that it was legalized abortion that has had the greatest impact on the decrease in crime.
Turns out that this is the major theory and discussion in Freakonomics, a book by "rogue" economist Steven Levitt and journalist Stephen Dubner. Basically, the idea is that the children that would have been raised by most of the mothers (specifically as opposed to families) that had aborted them stood the greatest statistical chance of turning to crime. Farbeit for me to explain in detail a controversial subject like this, but if you read the book, you'll understand the notion.
There are numerous other theories and questions posed, all in a prose that is very easy to read and very "non-economics 101". If nothing else, it may get you to ask some interesting questions about what you think is going on around you.
I guess it depends on what time of crime you and your colleagues deemed as dropping. According to Bureau of Justice Statistics, "urban residents had the highest violent victimization rates in 2004". Six urban residents per 1,000 were victims of aggravated assault verses 4 for suburban and 4 for rural.
ReplyDeleteYeah, but how many this year vs. prior years? The theory isn't about what type of crime, it was about why crime rates were diminishing.
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