Crime and Race: A Plea for New Ideas

In: The review of black political economy: analyzing policy prescriptions designed to reduce inequalities, Band 34, Heft 3-4, S. 173-185

Abstract

A review of the economics of crime literature provides an unsatisfactory explanation of the higher crime rates among African Americans compared to crime rates for whites in the US. This address challenges economists, particularly African American economists, to come up with new and credible ideas to explain the observed crime differential that could influence policies to decrease crime in the African American community.