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Jens 'n' Frens
Idle thoughts of a relatively libertarian Republican in Cambridge, MA, and whomever he invites. Mostly political.
"A strong conviction that something must be done is the parent of many bad measures."
-- Daniel Webster
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Monday, April 16, 2012 :::
According to the Innocence Project, a legal advocacy group, about 75% of false convictions that are later overturned are based on faulty eyewitness testimony.
Apparently, though, they can be made better: Normally, witnesses are encouraged to take their time and carefully consider each possible suspect. But Dr. Brewer knew that strong memory traces are easier to access than weak and mistaken ones, which is why he only gave his witnesses two seconds to make up their minds. He also asked them to estimate how confident they were about the suspects they identified, rather than insisting on a simple yes-no answer. To test this procedure, Dr. Brewer and his colleagues asked 905 volunteers to watch a series of short films showing such crimes as shoplifting and car theft. The subjects then looked at 12 portraits, only one of which was the actual suspect. According to Dr. Brewer's data, his version of the lineup led to a large boost in accuracy, with improvements in eyewitness performance ranging from 21% to 66%. Even when subjects were quizzed a week later, those who were forced to choose quickly remained far more trustworthy.
I still doubt I could vote to convict a defendent solely on eyewitness testimony by a stranger, but I welcome this development. If the government's job is merely to provide services, like roads, schools and courts, competition among governmental producers may be as good a discipline as competition among private producers. But if government's job is also to remedy many of life's inequities, you may want a stronger centralized government, unchecked by competition.
I should confess to not having read Mankiw's piece, but it seems to me that a progressive Federal income (or consumption) tax allocated by income combined with unconditional grants to the states, with competition among states (and municipalities) on the provision of social services, could redistribute income however we see fit. States that don't provide welfare benefits to the poor and lose poor people also lose federal dollars. This assumes mobility, of course. - Frank J. Fleming notes that the government is better at hurting our enemies than actually helping us and that Obama is cleverly using it for this purpose.
- Joplin, MO has recovered from tornados faster than Tuscaloosa, AL, largely because the city of Tuscaloosa has chosen central planning while Joplin has encouraged private rebuilding.
I think Ilya Somin and the authors think this demonstrates the superiority of the decentralized method, and I disagree – in particular, if you had told a Tuscaloosa city official a year ago that their insistence on a central plan would slow down rebuilding, I think he would have said, "yes, it will be slower, but it will be better thought out." - Original pitch video for The Muppet Show
- In honor of the centennial of the sinking of the ship Titanic, I'm reposting a brilliant video proving that it didn't happen.
::: posted by Steven at 1:31 AM
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