One thing I think people often forget is the HUGE economic loss by having these people in prison. There are 5.5M people in the US correctional system. The vast majority of these are probably capable of contributing maybe $50k per year in productivity. That's $250B/yr in lost economic productivity! That's about 1% of GDP! HUGE!
We would all have 1% more stuff, on average, if these people were working instead of in prison.
This may not seem like a lot, but recall that in antiquity growth rates were much less than 1% annually, and in modern times we hope for ~2% growth, and might get zero or negative growth this year. 1% more would be a huge boost, especially after compounding that over many years.
This also doesn't account for the cost of actually keeping them in prison, which is higher than the cost of them living as free people.
All that to say, our prison system has an absolutely massive opportunity cost that must be taken into account. Obviously for some criminals this is a cost that must be paid. For most, it's probably not worth it.
And thinking about much better alternatives - I know this will seem wacky and ethically dubious, but hear me out: How about corporal punishment? That seems to me it would be a REALLY strong deterrent. It would also be very quick, then you're back to normal, hopefully the wiser for wear.
I don't know what form it would take, but suppose it was lashings. I've heard that's pretty painful. Let's say for some crime you get two lashes or whatever, but then that's it - you're out. I know I'd prefer that to almost any amount of jail time - but paradoxically it might also be a better deterrent. And for those repeat offenders that aren't deterred, you can always fall back on jail time.
Not sure what to do about the masochists though.... Um, withhold the lashing?
For crimes not involving bodily harm/loss of life, sure, I am totally for corporal punishment. Public lashings/canings, with tarring and feathering for more serious offences to top it off
You're missing that more than half of the people in prison DO work. They're still contributing to GDP. They're just not getting paid for it (making less than a dollar an hour doesn't count).
Are they contributing to GDP as much as they would if free? I really doubt it. I think most of this is busy-work, or work the prison system can sell easily to a private company for extra profit.
But I'm sure (having done no research and having no supporting data, so I know it's true) that productivity inside can't be more than a tiny fraction of what it would be on the outside.
How much is that extra productivity worth to you? The majority of inmates are violent offenders, and are more likely than not to re-offend violently. Releasing them early to work is literally trading money for people's lives and safety.
We would all have 1% more stuff, on average, if these people were working instead of in prison.
This may not seem like a lot, but recall that in antiquity growth rates were much less than 1% annually, and in modern times we hope for ~2% growth, and might get zero or negative growth this year. 1% more would be a huge boost, especially after compounding that over many years.
This also doesn't account for the cost of actually keeping them in prison, which is higher than the cost of them living as free people.
All that to say, our prison system has an absolutely massive opportunity cost that must be taken into account. Obviously for some criminals this is a cost that must be paid. For most, it's probably not worth it.
https://www.statista.com/topics/1717/prisoners-in-the-united... https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/gdp