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Chris Richards's avatar

This is why I am an abolitionist.

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EP's avatar

Loved this article! Particularly appreciated the connection between economics/credibility politics and the reality that many meaningful interventions cannot pass rigorous testing standards. Reformers must reflect on why we care about evidence and do so without de-prioritizing everything else. Reliance on measurement is an ego trip - so much of decarceration work can/will never be accurately measured.

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Jonathan Ben-Menachem's avatar

thanks so much for reading, and glad you got something out of it!

I think the econ/rigor point is also funny because policymakers mostly care about *prediction* - would intervention A work in context X? RCTs and similar methods provide literally no vantage on this question. It's only internal validity

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