FUBar returns for the coming Fall term, with a number of readings on a recurring topic - crime. Our first piece is from the WSJ, pointing out that this recession has been accompanied by an unexpected phenomenon - a continuing decrease in the US and Canadian crime rate. This runs counter to past conventional wisdom, and the author considers - and rejects - a series of explanations for this phenomenon. Are people just getting.....'better'?
More recently in the news has been the looting and assaults in the UK, and much ink has been devoted to why the UK riots happened, how to prevent them happening again, and how to deal with those apprehended. The 'deterrence' question is particularly interesting (and related to the question above). Attached then is a set of short articles, Article 1, Article 2 and Article 3 providing a variety of views. In many people's minds is the unanswered question: what really triggered it all?
