Moneyballing Justice: "Evidence-Based" Criminal Reforms Ignore Real Evidence
"Proponents of the new wave of 'criminal justice reform' claim that their efforts are nonpartisan, non-ideological and 'evidence-based.'

This 'evidence-based' frame asserts that mass incarceration and 'overcriminalization' will be remedied by a handful of sentencing reforms affecting 'low-level' offenders. An essential element of such reform is the widespread use of 'evidence-based risk-assessment' instruments to purportedly help authorities objectively determine who is 'dangerous' - and therefore must remain in prison - and who is not.

This isn't a miracle cure; it is a lavishly funded public relations campaign advancing unfettered free-market 'solutions' to criminal justice dilemmas and the politics of austerity. 'Bipartisanship' is driven by a right-wing agenda and support from a constellation of libertarian and neoliberal economic interests. It is funded by Koch Industries and a handful of foundations and deep-pocketed donors. Yes, some high-profile people and groups considered liberal have signed on - but to messaging and strategic direction already established by the right."

The Neoliberal Assault on Academia

The neoliberal sacking of the universities runs much deeper than tuition hikes and budget cuts, notes Barkawi.
 
The New York Times, Slate and Al Jazeera have recently drawn attention to the adjunctification of the professoriate in the US. Only  24 per cent of university and college faculty are now tenured or tenure-track.

Much of the coverage has focused on the  sub-poverty wages of adjunct faculty, their lack of job security and the  growing legions of unemployed and under-employed PhDs. Elsewhere, the focus has been on web-based learning and the massive open online courses ( MOOCs), with some commentators celebrating and others lamenting their arrival.

The two developments are not unrelated. Harvard recently asked its alumni to volunteer their time as "online mentors" and "discussion group managers" for an online course. Fewer professors and fewer qualified - or even paid - teaching assistants will be required in higher education's New Order.

Lost amid the fetishisation of information technology and the pathos of the struggle over proper working conditions for adjunct faculty is the deeper crisis of the academic profession occasioned by neoliberalism. This crisis is connected to the economics of higher education but it is not primarily about that.

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Freakonomics Author Steven Levitt: Authoritarian Corporate Shill?

Levitt is assumed to be a harmless, quirky pop economist for trivia nerds. But is that really the case?

Steven Levitt, University of Chicago economist, gained nationwide fame and prestige after co-authoring Freakonomics, a pop economics book based partly on Levitt’s original economic research. Published in 2005, Freakonomics became an instant #1 bestseller and spawned an entire 

Freakonomics media franchise that included a branded Freakonomics blog (hosted on the New York Times website until 2011), a regular segment on the National Public Radio program Marketplace, a Freakonomics movie and, alas, a Freakonomics business consulting company (now called the Greatest Good).

In 2006, Time magazine solidified Levitt’s “thought leader” status by naming him one of “100 People Who Shape Our World.”* But despite Levitt’s high profile, very little has been written about his academic and ideological background. Generally Levitt is assumed to be a harmless, quirky pop economist for trivia nerds. But is that really the case?

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