Paul Krugman: FBI figures expose GOP 'politics of fear' on US crime rates

Pundits for Fox News and other right-wing media outlets have been reporting extensively on the crime rates in major U.S. cities, typically blaming Democrats and claiming that Democrats are determined to "defund the police." But many prominent Democrats have made it clear that they are dead-set against defunding the police, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) and New York City Mayor Eric Adams.

Democratic Philadelphia mayoral nominee Cherelle Parker, in fact, has been campaigning on increasing the size of Philly's police department and hiring hundreds of new cops.

Liberal economist Paul Krugman examines FBI crime figures in his October 24 column for the New York Times, arguing that the right has been exaggerating the severity of crime increases but warning that "the politics of fear" can be effective.

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"In 2022, according to FBI numbers, there were 370 violent crimes reported for every 100,000 Americans," Krugman explains. "Even allowing for some underreporting, this likely means there was less than one violent crime for every 200 people. So the great majority of Americans haven't been victims lately, or probably ever."

The economist/columnist continues, "What this implies is that public views about crime needn't have much to do with personal experience. They may instead be shaped by impressions people pick up from media, both news and social, and from politicians. In other words, perceptions about crime are like perceptions about the economy — perhaps more so: They don't necessarily bear much relationship to reality."

Krugman notes that the U.S. did suffer a "surge in crime…. especially in murders" in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. But he adds that "murders dropped significantly in 2022," noting that "some forms of property crime are still running high."

"The good news is that while many feared that America was about to experience a sustained resurgence of crime, at this point, we seem to be heading back to the pre-pandemic normal of fairly low crime," Krugman argues. "The bad news is that the politics of fear can work, even if there isn't much basis for those fears."

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Read Paul Krugman's full New York Times column at this link (subscription required).