Freakonomics
January 3, 2008 – 7:58 pmby Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner
Interesting book… probably most well-known for pointing out the correlation of Roe v. Wade and the drop in crime in the 1990’s. The authors do not applaud the correlation as an intended consequence, but they do point it out.
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2 Responses to “Freakonomics”
Wait. Because abortions are legal, crimes decreased??? My brain just exploded. What does this mean?
By Neener on Jan 4, 2008
The authors are not making a moral statement, just showing the correlation that 17 years after Roe v. Wade, crime started decreasing.
They make a few educated guesses as to why, and they also show a bit of evidence that it is more than a simple coincidence (e.g states that legalized abortion before Roe v. Wade had their violent crimes rate go down at about the same time.)
They also point out other factors that lead to the crime drop (e.g Crack price bust and enforcement of existing laws combined with harsher penalties)
By dwight on Jan 4, 2008