Using an Economist’s Tool in Epidemiology
Gini coefficients and Lorenz Curves can tell you a lot about the relationship between income inequality and homicides in Baltimore.
If you don’t instinctively know that violent crime is tied to economics, you should. While poverty doesn’t turn someone into an evil person, it does push a person into crime. After all, it is the majority and/or the authorities who define a crime, and poor people are usually not in the room when a law is drafted or passed.
Example Time
Suppose you are walking in the woods during a storm, and you come upon an empty cabin. You look through the window, and you see there is food, water, a comfortable bed, and plenty of firewood to start a fire in the fireplace. But the cabin is locked. Do you break into the cabin, even if there is a big sign telling you that “Trespassers Will Be Prosecuted”?
“A jury would never convict,” you might say. And you might be correct. But how many times do trespassers not get the benefit of the doubt for their actions? How many times do they instead see the receiving end of a shooting by police or the residents of the trespassed place?
“So you want people to trespass without consequences?” you might ask. No, I don’t. I’m…