Road Congestion
_______ restricts traveling/transportation around a city.
Traffic
Where is crime most prominent?
- Cities/Urban areas
- Stop crime through deterrence
- Keep criminals off the street
Provide some examples of new technologies police forces embraced to be more efficient
Fingerprinting, automobiles, lie detectors, two-way radios, and the 911 system
Which factor contributes to suicide among younger people?
Firearms
Economists Gilles Duranton and Matthew Turner discovered what?
Vehicle miles traveled having a positive correlation with the number of miles of new highway.
Why are cities more prone to crime?
- When poor people come into a city, crime comes along, it is a social problem of poverty
- Urban areas present a dense concentration of potential victims
How did America initially respond to the poverty and crime problem?
- Make the city more prosperous
- Create an immense amount of jobs over the next 3 years
State some resources at use for cities to improve their public safety
Large police forces, observant citizens, strong infrastructure
Which cities(mentioned) have lower death rates than the national average?
New York City, Los Angeles, Boston, Minneapolis, San Francisco
How did London fix their congestion problem?
- Adopted their own congestion charge to patrons
Explain the role of murder and public safety
- Murder is the only crime that can be used to measure long-term changes in public safety
- Other crimes are often underreported
______ _______ argues that the incapacitation effect of jails is usually more important than deterrence(the action of discouraging an action or event through instilling doubt or fear of the consequences)
Steven Levitt
During the 1990s, the number of police in New York City increased by ____ percent. The number of police increased by ___ percent nationwide.
45%, 15%
How does the suicide rate for young New Yorkers compare to the rest of the country?
56% of the national average
State the general natural economists’ solution to road congestion.
- Charging driver’s for full cost of vehicle impacts
Briefly summarize crime behaviors in the late 1980s
- >20% of people living in cities of 1+ million people fell victim to a crime (1989)
- Murder ratees increased 25% as a city’s population doubled
What happened in the criminal system between 1980 and 2000?
The number of inmates in the United States Criminal System, whether it be in prison, in jail, on probation, or on parole, increased from 1.8 million to 6.4 million
Explain the origin and functions of “safe streets teams
- Developed by the Boston Police Department
- Increased police in troubled areas
- Primarily assists women and minorities
How did Mayor Bloomberg combat smoking?
Drastically increasing cigarette sales, limited legal smoking areas
How and where did economist Vickrey die?
- Heart attack
- Car/car wheel
How does Gary Becker explain the economics of crime and punishment?
- Criminals aren’t completely irrational
- There will be less crimes if the severity of the punishments are increased
State Glaeser’s opinion of young men brought into the prison system
- Incarceration plays an essential role in reducing crime and contributing to the overall public safety
- Losing freedom and future prospects is an exceptionally terrible consequence
What was Jack Maple’s subway idea and how did it impact the New York Transit System?
Place more officers in subways → immensely reduced robbery and crime rates
Throughout most of human history, _______ enabled the spread of ________ diseases that struck down those humans who had the temerity to risk living near one another.
Proximity, infectious