He was sued for defamation by economist John Lott in April 2006 for claiming that Lott had bribed the editors of the Journal of Law and Economics to publish his paper without being peer-reviewed, and was required by the judge to admit that this had not occurred. He studied the effect of prison population on crime by examining ACLU overcrowding lawsuits, and with Ian Ayres, he found a large positive externality for using (*) LoJack. He has also studied the negative effects of incentives, as illustrated in his studies of cheating schoolteachers, cheating sumo wrestlers, and, most controversially, his claim that legalized abortion has significantly reduced the crime rate. For 10 points, name this University of Chicago economist who was awarded the John Bates Clark Medal in 2003 and who is the co-author, along with Stephen Dubner, of the bestselling book Freakonomics.
He was sued for defamation by economist John Lott in April 2006 for claiming that Lott had bribed the editors of the Journal of Law and Economics to publish his paper without being peer-reviewed, and was required by the judge to admit that this had not occurred. He studied the effect of prison population on crime by examining ACLU overcrowding lawsuits, and with Ian Ayres, he found a large positive externality for using (*) LoJack. He has also studied the negative effects of incentives, as illustrated in his studies of cheating schoolteachers, cheating sumo wrestlers, and, most controversially, his claim that legalized abortion has significantly reduced the crime rate. For 10 points, name this University of Chicago economist who was awarded the John Bates Clark Medal in 2003 and who is the co-author, along with Stephen Dubner, of the bestselling book Freakonomics.
He was sued for defamation by economist John Lott in April 2006 for claiming that Lott had bribed the editors of the Journal of Law and Economics to publish his paper without being peer-reviewed, and was required by the judge to admit that this had not occurred.
Steven David {Levitt}