How does a society reduce crime? It’s not an easy question to answer. But at least we can rule out a few things, including mass incarceration which is both ineffective and really expensive. Could raising the minimum wage help? How about more cops on the street? A new report from the White House Council of Economic Advisers looks at the data and suggests some strategies for success.

+ Alex Tabarrok: “The United States spends much more per-capita on prison guards than does the rest of the world. Given our prison population, that isn’t surprising. What is surprising is that on a per-capita basis we spend 35% less on police than the world average. That’s crazy.” (I checked his math and “crazy” is indeed the correct answer.)