> The goal of fines is to discourage ... When the goal becomes ... collect more fines,... the entire system is just fundamentally broken. Your assumption is th

> The goal of fines is to discourage ... When the goal becomes ... collect more fines,... the entire system is just fundamentally broken. Your assumption is that fines discourage. If fines discourage, and the goal is to maximize discouragement, that will occur when fines are maximized. ...unless you think the fines are so large that we've gone past the peak discouragement point, where people are so scared of the fines that they no longer maximize their misbehavior. In this case, if we decrease fines, revenue to the city will increase! the Laffer parking curve! The beatings will stop when morale improves.