[PEN-L:4268] economic statistics (as if people mattered)

[Lisa & Ian Murray]

Yoshie wrote>>At the
same time, the wars on crimes & drugs have made costs of living
higher (& lowered standards of living) for an increasing number of
people, since fines, court costs, lawyer fees, bail bonds, etc. must
be paid & prisoners can't contribute to household incomes (through
regular or unofficial jobs) & instead have to be supported by their
families.  In short, fighting against the criminal justice system has
become a part of daily necessities for the poor, but this fact is
ignored when economists discuss "standard budgets" & "official
poverty lines," I believe.

Yoshie

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And of course lot's of the above [gov. purchases of guns, concrete etc. for
prisons, police cars, new courthouses yaddah yaddah] shows up as GDP growth
too. Yummy!

Ian