More Executions, Fewer Deaths? “A new study suggests that the death penalty deters many more murders than most people thought plausible. A death-penalty opponent analyzes the evidence.” Controversial findings of recent studies using a new “econometric” methodology have included not only that executions save, on average, eighteen lives apiece by their deterrent effect, but also the salubrious effects on the crime rate from carrying concealed weapons and from legalizing abortions. The researchers, the essay’s author explains, went through contortions to explain some counterintuitive findings of the study which, although I’m not qualified to assess econometric analysis, make me dubious overall about this methodology; has it been seized upon because its findings serve conservative purposes? (Do I doubt it because it does not serve my purposes [grin]?) Many compelling studies have established the lack of a deterrent effect by demonstrating that the presence or absence of capital punishment in a constituency fails to correlate with the murder rate, and that the rates of change of the murder rate fail to correlate with changes in death penalty status. It’s probably worth noting that, while the author is advertised as a death penalty opponent, it is on religious grounds which have little relationship to one’s attitude about deterrence. From American Outlook, magazine of the conservative Hudson Institute think tank.