The Economy

What exactly do you think my "opinion" is?

The idea that unless they simply closed the highest crime stores (with nothing in that story accounting for how much theft -- $ losses -- there was in the stores, something only Target would know, and which is an important detail), there is a smoking gun of some sort (which nobody is coming out and just stating) is absurd.

First, when you have more foot traffic, it wouldn't be that surprising to have more crime. ... just by virtue of more people coming through. In absolute numbers, Grand Central Station has way more crime than the bodega on Avenue A and 5th Street. Grand Central gets more foot traffic.

What is the crime rate relative to the foot traffic? It could tell a much different story. It also would be a much more meaningful way to look at it than what they did with absolute numbers.

Then, stores with higher foot traffic and higher income shoppers are almost certainly going to drive higher revenue per store. They are going to be way more suited to overcoming a high crime rate and still being financially viable than a store that is running in a marginal way even without high crime rates.

I suspect that Target feels it has to talk around some "Well, duh" realities, because they get accused of racism or discrimination because of where some of those stores are located.

 

I had the same immediate thoughts.

1) Only 12 percent were still homeless. How many would have still been homeless without their experiment? Was there any sort of control group?
2) Then along the lines of @BTExpress 's "no questions asked." When you ask people what they were spending the money on, it's not quite the same as observing what they spent the money on. The only reason I bring it up, is that in reading the story, they breathlessly rushed out their results, not to prove that giving people handouts helps them meet basic needs, which would be a "who woulda thunk it?" but because they wanted to prove that it's a myth that people will use their handouts for illicit purposes. Does asking them what they used it for really prove that?

 

Probably tied to the Red Sea attacks going on.