[I found the theory, that lead was a major cause of the US crime boom, pretty convincing. This study argues that it was a spurious correlation due to faulty data. On the other hand, one of the major original proponents of the theory makes a decent argument that this study is itself flawed, and the lead theory still has legs. -egg]

One of the more exotic explanations for America’s incredible decades-long drop in crime is the lead theory. As the theory goes, we know that lead exposure is really harmful — it can cause learning disabilities, lower IQs, impulsivity, and aggressive behavior. So when America began taking lead out of its gasoline, it reduced all these bad outcomes — and crime, statistics show, fell right alongside rates of lead exposure.

A new study published in the Journal of Quantitative Criminology suggests, however, that this correlation may not exist at all, calling the supposed drop in both lead and crime a statistical “artifact” based on faulty crime data. And that means one of the most popular theories about the crime drop could be wrong.

Study: one of the most popular theories for America’s huge crime drop is wrong – Vox