Does imposing the death penalty lower rates of violent crime? What economic policies will lead to broad prosperity? Which medical treatments should we allow and encourage to treat novel diseases? These questions have a few things in common.
They bear important consequences for us all, and so policymakers and the public would like to know the answers – if good answers even exist. Fortunately, there are entire communities of experts who produce closely regulated scientific literatures dedicated to answering them.
Unfortunately, they are also difficult questions, which require causal knowledge that’s not easy to come by.
Read more courtesy of Andrew Little and aeon.co
