An Economical Approach
to Crime and Punishment

Yet, this figure still falls short of the current prison expenses of $24.5 billion currently being spent on prisons. It is for this that I have added even more provisions to my plan. According to the Bureau of Justice, the medical expenses for one inmate costs $6.54 per day. Therefore I suggest that we reserve medical care only for those who are to become gladiators, for if they are not healthy it will be difficult to produce an entertaining program. By this we can eliminate the medical expenses at least 1,000,000 prisoners, and save more than 6.5 million dollars. Furthermore, the cost to feed the average inmate costs roughly $2.96, so I have decided that it would be in everyone best interest to purchase food only for those who are employed with tasks beneficial to production. I generously estimate this number to be roughly 4,500, including the 3000 gladiators, and thereby eliminating another $2.96 million.

Of course I do not intend to starve every inmate who is not employed, I have figured that any meat that can be salvaged from the carcasses of the defeated gladiator can be dispersed amongst the non-productive inmates. Additionally, because I am a man of good will, I propose that the relatives of prisoners would be allowed to deliver them food at anytime. Any members of society who are worthy of being kept alive will obviously have families who will care for them in their time of need, and therefore, any that perish from hunger will not be missed.

I admit that despite the great profitability of my plan, it still does not match the amount of money being spent on prisons currently. However, under my plan, the populations of prisons would soon drop, and if we also eliminate the unnecessary, lengthy, and costly appeals process, the costs of operating prisons will drop as well. Moreover, I have not even calculated other beneficial side effects to my system. The sale of merchandise, such as action figures, T-shirts, home videos, pieces of bone, and formaldehyde jars containing body-parts will all increase profitability.