Where we murder for capital.

A pair of fascinating articles on cocaine economics. First up: did cocaine’s declining price cause the drop in violent crime?

Once the margin of profit for dealing small amounts of crack cocaine disappeared, being part of the drug trade was no longer worth the persistent threat of violence or the stiff criminal penalties. A 70 percent drop in cocaine prices like the one that occurred in the mid 1990s combined with competition from decentralized sources for methamphetamines and prescription narcotics would completely eliminate the minimum wage drug dealer as a viable profession.

The same goes for turf wars, which Venkatesh saw as the source of the majority of inner-city violence. He saw the life of a drug dealer as relatively violence-free up until territory conflicts with other gangs ensued. Without the high value of cocaine as a commodity, the incentive for protracted gang wars would dwindle as well as eliminate the economy for the illegal weapons, drive-by shootings, and mercenary “warriors” needed to help defend prime dealing locations. Without profit to fight over, Vankatesh thought that “gang violence would likely return to pre-crack levels.”

On the Mexican side, a forensic economist believes the cartels are behaving rationally:

According to Dell, the cartels have behaved like textbook economic actors, shifting their trafficking routes in predictable ways to circumvent towns where the government has cracked down and raiding towns where competing cartels have been weakened by government efforts.
…
What happens when a law-and-order mayor gets elected? All hell breaks loose: Dell estimates that the drug-related homicide rate almost doubles relative to “control” towns where the PAN wasn’t elected. And it’s not the result of traffickers warring with police, but rather traffickers fighting with each other. Dell conjectures—based on anecdotal evidence about the drug war—that police efforts tend to weaken a cartel’s grip on a town just enough that competing traffickers see an opening to come in and fight for control of the town. Indeed, when a rival cartel controls a neighboring town, the effect of a PAN win on the drug-related homicide rate is several times higher.

Linkwad.

1. Growing pot has a huge carbon footprint.
2. Saw Jeff Mangum on Monday night. Thoughts soon, but here’s the Awl’s report. Also, opener The Music Tapes were really intriguing.
3. All about Kindle’s new $200 Fire tablet.

Here’s “Minister of Longitude.”

Linkwad.

1. Definitely a dick move, Facebook.
2. Reddit co-founder accused of stealing over a million JSTOR articles with plans to distribute them.
3. Baltimore cop charged with dealing heroin. The officer, Daniel G. Redd, “was fired in 2002 after being found asleep on the job at the reservoir at Druid Hill Park, where he was supposed to be on anti-terrorist duty… Redd sued and was rehired under a court order, and the city had to pay him $75,000 in back pay.” So. That worked out well.
4. An interesting article about Google+’s potential to become a “social backbone.”
5. If you rent a car with your Visa card, they provide collision and theft coverage, although it doesn’t cover personal belongings or liability. Good catch by @StevenMBone.

Null set.

Sometime in August, I’ll have my first experience in a jury pool. For many reasons¹, the odds of me actually serving on of a jury are about as good as me getting struck by lightning. Regardless, here’s a jury nullification pamphlet “written and illustrated” by Ricardo Cortés, Go the Fuck to Sleep illustrator. He also shares a pretty great Michael Bloomberg anecdote:

I confronted Bloomberg once at a Gracie Mansion BBQ, where I asked him to reconcile his administration of record marijuana arrests with his own admission of personal use and enjoyment. He hemmed and hawed. I asked why he wouldn’t arrest himself for the past use, and he said “That’s not how the law works.” I said, “So, really you’re just saying ‘I got away with it.’” At that point he said, “You and I have nothing in common,” and walked away from me. True story.

Via Radley Balko.

Note: I don’t really know what a null set is, even after looking it up. If anyone wants to explain it without using mu (Caroline, probably?), go nuts.

Linkwad.

1. The Groupon IPO brings back fond memories of past tech-biz bubbles, and their long-forgotten lessons. Potential counterpoint: Amazon.
2. When the NFL finishes with its temper tantrum, complex schemes could be at a disadvantage.
3. “One of the reasons [Jill] Abramson is the best person to run the Times at this moment is that she is one of the very few people in the building… who really understands what the Times is and what it can do for good or evil.” Via @JayRosenNYU.
4. Turns out an untraceable digital currency is perfect for buying drugs online (for now, anyway).