ECON 2Q03 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Freakonomics, Marginal Utility, Real Crime
14 Dec 2017
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Video: cost of crime in canada- estimating the cost of pain and suffering. How much to spend on cost prevention- cost/benefit analysis. Benefit- reduction in lost property, time off work, medical care. Survey data allows economics to collect data on crime. 2004- assaults cost canada 2. 8 billion/year according to police records, with surveys it costs 7. 7 billion per year. Rational criminal model- gary becker: crime falls when legal income rises. Becker- decisions to commit a crime is risk v. return (similar to investing) Rational decision making does not equal ethical or legal thinking. Correctly predicts that people with high legal incomes are not likely to be prevalent in the criminal and prison population: crime falls when likelihood/consequences of getting caught increases. Canada spends b on police, judiciary, and prisons. Cost of criminals in jail = 750/year. Marginal costs- how effective jail v. police v. lawyers is.
