1. The Use of Knowledge in Proportionate Punishment Mises Academy: The American Prison State Lecture 5

2. A brief timeline of punishment theory and practice 1700s - 1800s: in England and developed world scaffolds are replaced by penitentiaries in the US and Australia forced labor is replaced by penitentiaries Early 20 th century: rehabilitation practices change from corporal to psychotherapy 1950s - 1980s: “nothing works.” high crime and high recidivism despite increased spending on rehabilitation 1980s – 2000: retributive theory inspires mandatory minimum sentencing and three strikes you’re out laws 1990s – today: the modern prison crises and the rise of the proportionality philosophy

3. Competing paradigms of criminal punishment

4. The Proportionality Principle A deontological constraint upon retribution The punishment should fit the crime Like crimes should be treated alike Equality before the law

5. How are proportionate sentences actually to be produced? 1. Assume the state as the sole legitimate provide of punishment and law enforcement 2. Ordinally rank crimes by severity (Davis 1983 and von Hirsch and Jareborg's 1991) 3. Ordinally rank punishments by harshness 4. “Anchor” crime and punishment scales together to create cardinal exchange rates

14. Calculation Problems Without market prices for capital goods their cannot be rational calculation to optimize the production of consumer goods. Planners cannot allocate resources across the structure of production optimally.