by Steve H. Hanke and Howard Baetjer

About the authors: Steve H. Hanke is a professor of applied economics at Johns Hopkins University. Howard Baetjer is a postdoctoral fellow at Johns Hopkins University.

The FBI recently released data showing that serious crimes decreased in 1996, continuing a pattern that began in 1992. This might satisfy the statisticians who detect an improving trend, but it won’t calm the fears of most Americans. Indeed, polls show that the average citizen worries a lot about crime.

Sensing the public’s angst, politicians of all stripes have proposed solutions. Their crime-fighting proposals have come in two forms. One is served up by incentivists and the other by structuralists. The incentivists claim that more severe punishments reduce crime rates.

The structuralists object to these solutions. They argue that getting tough on crime doesn’t work. For...