Is mass incarceration a hidden engine driving the global economy?
With over 10 million people incarcerated worldwide, the prison system functions as a massive, often overlooked workforce. This video examines the economic realities of mass incarceration, analyzing the opportunity costs and the complex externalities that shape national economies.
The scale of global incarceration is immense, with 2.3 million individuals held in the United States alone. When viewed through a clinical economic lens, this population represents a significant workforce that influences national productivity and resource allocation.
The analysis focuses on three critical economic dimensions: the opportunity cost of removing millions from the labor market, the broader impacts on the national economy, and the reciprocal influence of economic conditions on incarceration rates. By evaluating both positive and negative externalities, the study highlights how the prison industrial complex functions as a substantial, if grim, component of modern economic systems.
