.
Read:
http://www.ips-dc.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/IPS-The-Poor-Get-Prison-Final.pdf (Links to an external
site.) (it's also in the docs and stuff section)
- Why are jails and prisons usually treated as a public good? Use the language of economics in your
answer
and include the formal characteristics of a public and private good.
- In Louisiana, prisons are operated as a private good. Does this change the public policy choices made
in the state about crime? Is there an incentive to either increase or decrease the prison population in the state?
Why?
Read this to help answer question 2: http://www.addictinginfo.org/2014/09/24/this-judge-sold-children-
toprivate-prisons-for-cash-hes-going-down-for-28-years/ (Links to an external site.)
- In your opinion, is privatization of probation and prisons a good idea? Why or why not?
Sample Solution