My latest letter to the editor

... is here, in the Science Times section of The New York Times:

Re “Prison and the Poverty Trap” (Feb. 19): The article shows that the war on drugs has harmed people like Carl Harris on two levels. First, it has distorted incentives and created an underground market that is both more lucrative and more violent than the aboveground economy. Second, the long prison terms associated with the underground market cause a breakdown of families and communities.

If those in power are serious about the poverty trap, they should be serious about not setting it up in the first place.