As Chicago emerges from its most violent year since the 1990s, year-to-date crime statistics for March show a slight drop in shootings and murders, according to the Chicago Police Department – with the biggest drops in the city’s 15 most violent community areas. But our guest this week argues something has been amiss in Chicago for about 30 years. Professor Jens Ludwig, who helps lead the University of Chicago’s Crime and Education Labs, and the National Bureau of Economic Research’s working group on the economics of crime, points out that Los Angeles, New York City and Chicago all had similar crime rates in the 90s. But while L.A. and New York have seen their crime rates tumble, Chicago’s hasn’t. Many of the conditions that existed back in the 90s — the fact that we’re surrounded by places where it’s easier to get guns, our gang structures and our segregation — are the same. Ludwig discusses his theories about the origins of that split. He also explores whether bail reform or the state’s criminal justice overhaul, the SAFE-T Act, contributed to the recent surge, and how the interrupted school year might be impacting carjackings now, and potential violence in the future.