Shawshank: A Mixed Economy

Shawshank: A Mixed Economy The mixed economic system in Shawshank redemption thrives on the foundation of the underlying aspects of a command, traditional and market system. Shawshanks command economy is controlled by warden Norton, who controls the contraband coming in and out of the prison. He decides what goods come into the prison, who they’re distributed to and the profits his distributor's make. In relation to the traditional system in shawshank prison, again, warden norton has the largest majority of control over the guards and prisoners. He uses solitary confinement to restrict Andy’s chances of further communication with Tommy, who believes he can prove him innocent. The wardens main incentive is to keep Andy in order to keep making

It’s in many ways beneficial to society that inmates are used for cheap labor in exchange of shortened sentences or a work assignment that pays a small amount to their commissary. Inmates cost americans millions in tax dollars per year. Without knowing it, Americans spend their taxes on the increasing amount of “rehabilitated” inmates in the u.s. and by the average increase in those incarcerated the prison system essentially gains income based on the amount of inmates. This costs the real rehabilitation and reality of life after prison in exchange of mass incarceration. It’s certainly costly to house and feed nearly 2.3 million people in u.s. Prisons. Each inmate averages around $47,000, which includes their security, housing, food, and health care. (source 1) Which leads to the cost of an individual prisoner, being their chance at a realistic rehabilitation. Given the example of Brooks in Shawshank redemption, the rehabilitation he receives hardly prepares him for life outside of prison. He loses health care, and gains all of life’s responsibility after having no true experience outside of many years spent in incarceration. Because people who have served a sentence in prison run an 18% higher risk of suicide, depression and ptsd it’s understood why Brooks took his own life, the largest opportunity cost in life after prison. Of course there is still a chance for true rehabilitation in life after prison,

In retrospect, the wardens benefit entirely from offering the inmates at cheap labor costs during the inside out program because he will still be benefitting from the bribes of other’s in need of the labor he offers. Simply because it’ll keep the other contractors in business if they’re not overspending on the labor. This makes the profit much higher than the cost. The result in scarcity of labor, puts the outside contractors risk being put out of business and takes away the prisoners cash benefits if they have nowhere to work within the Inside Out