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Notes -
As you can see the among EU and US states, those which have the lowest gdp per capita are all EU ones. Yet the states, EU or US, which have the lowest murder rate per capita are also all EU ones. Any explanation why relies upon microgeography to explain away the anti-correlation shown @johnfabian, must look at the wider picture.
The bimodal distribution is an argument against using average GDP to assume away poverty. Clearly, poor people can exist even when wealthy ones are nearby.
Is it actually anti-correlated? I would expect two similar curves, each with a negative correlation between wealth and murders. But one of them was flattened by two world wars and an iron curtain. I can’t draw plots at the moment, but I bet you could make all sorts of correlations with the right gerrymandering.
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