Pennsylvania prison reform public forced labor

Pennsylvania moved forced labor out of sight

In late-18th-century Pennsylvania, public work crews caused disorder, and witnesses felt sympathy for mistreated convicts. Reformers moved punishment and forced work into secluded prisons, keeping the labor but taking it out of public view.

A tiny effect can be statistically significant

A large enough study can find statistical significance even when an effect is tiny. A p-value tells you neither how large the effect is nor whether it matters in real life. A confidence interval can show both the estimated size and the uncertainty around it.

A short passage looks much longer

7 m → 30 m

At Rome’s Palazzo Spada, architect Francesco Borromini used columns that get smaller, a narrowing floor and a small statue to make a seven-meter passage appear thirty meters long.

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Pennsylvania prison reform public forced labor

Pennsylvania moved forced labor out of sight

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