Welfare Economic Aspects of Capital Punishment

Abstract . Much has been written in recent years concerning the issue of capital punishment. The major argument on the side of the retentionists appears to revolve around deterrence. Using postulates from modern welfare economics the authors demonstrate that the deterrence question is largely irrelevant. Attention is also given to extracting materials from the writings of earlier economists from Petty to Mill which may be helpful in resolving the issue. The conclusion which emerges is that capital punishment is not justifiable on economic grounds.