Eli Lehrer

In the following viewpoint Eli Lehrer takes issue with the argument that poverty causes crime. While it is true that crime rates are generally higher in poorer neighborhoods, Lehrer maintains that many such neighborhoods are not crime-ridden because they are poor but are poor because they are crime-ridden. Citing examples from neighborhoods across the country, he argues that customers avoid shopping in high-crime areas, and entrepreneurs in turn avoid starting businesses in neighborhoods where people are afraid to walk on the street at night. In neighborhoods where a strong police presence has reduced crime, the economy has flourished. Rather than trying to boost a city’s economy in order to create jobs and reduce crime, Lehrer writes, cities should crack down on crime in order to rescue neighborhoods from poverty. Lehrer is a Bradley Fellow at the Heritage...