> When lead was removed from gasoline, lead levels in the environment fell, and kids avoided the lead exposure that caused these developmental problems. About 20 years later, when those kids became young adults, crime rates fell. This, proponents say, is what explains the mysterious and persistent decline in crime beginning in the early 1990s.
> It’s an intriguing idea — particularly since we don’t have a better explanation for the big changes in crime rates during this period.
Did not freakanomics come up with a famous (and to me more convincing) argument that it legalized abortion was the reason for the drop in crime? At they very least it dispels the arguments we don't have a better explanation and doesn't even mention it.
> It’s an intriguing idea — particularly since we don’t have a better explanation for the big changes in crime rates during this period.
Did not freakanomics come up with a famous (and to me more convincing) argument that it legalized abortion was the reason for the drop in crime? At they very least it dispels the arguments we don't have a better explanation and doesn't even mention it.
http://freakonomics.com/2005/05/15/abortion-and-crime-who-sh...