> Did not freakanomics come up with a famous (and to me more convincing) argument that it legalized abortion was the reason for the drop in crime? At they very

> Did not freakanomics come up with a famous (and to me more convincing) argument that it legalized abortion was the reason for the drop in crime? At they very least it dispels the arguments we don't have a better explanation and doesn't even mention it. It isn't a better one than lead. It was one of many correlated events. It was an interesting theory when it came out, but I don't think anyone takes the abortion argument seriously today since both abortion rates and crime rates have fallen together for nearly 40 years. Even when freakonomics came out, I remember my economics professor saying it was used to sell books. Also, if the freakonomics theory was valid, the legalization and widespread use of birth control ( which prevented far more pregnancies and births ), not abortion, should be getting the credit. You are comparing an ocean ( birth control ) with a small pond ( abortion ). The abortion theory is pretty much debunked now. That's why you don't hear about it anymore. It's most likely a confluence of events that has led to drop in crime rates. Birth control, less lead, more TV/internet/etc, longer education period and changes in the law or prosecutions. At the end of the day, nobody really knows what caused the decline in crime for certain. Abortion sells a lot of books and gets a lot of media support/press, but the continuing decline of both abortion rates and crime rates seems to indicate that abortion isn't the cause.