Does economic freedom really kill? On the association between 'Neoliberal' policies and homicide rates

•Does Economic Freedom Really Kill? On the Association between 'Neoliberal' Policies and Homicide Rates.•Explores popular claims that economic freedom cause increases in crime.•Estimates the relation between changes in economic reform across US states 1981-2010.•Estimates show no significant association with homicide.•Liberalizing reforms mainly tend to reduce non-violent types of crime.

This paper investigates recent claims that 'neoliberal' policies and reforms are associated with higher homicide rates and other types of crime. Using a panel of the 50 US states observed between 1981 and 2011 and the Economic Freedom Index of the Fraser Institute, results show that there is no direct association between changes in economic policies as measured by this index and homicide rates. The results nevertheless show that other non-violent types of crime decrease with spending or tax policy.