Re: The economics of incarceration

[Carrol Cox <cbcox@xxxxxxxxx>]

"Devine, James" wrote:
>
> Doesn't the calculation of the "optimal level or rate of incarceration"
> depend on one's "social welfare function," i.e., how one weights costs
> and benefits, so a pro-working-class number would be different from
> (lower than) a bourgeois one?

A pro-working class number would probably be about 90% lower than at
present: No one in prison who is not a clear and present danger to the
physical well-being of the populace. The calculation in the original
post did not take into account the number of criminals _created_ by the
prison system. A study* some years ago suggested that juveniles who
committed crimes were _less_ likely to remain criminals at the age of 26
if they had NOT been caught.

Deterrence doesn't work for teenagers because the part of our brain that
forsees consequences doesn't fully develop until we are over 20.

Carrol