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I don't really buy this. It one of those things that sounds plausible (hard times = more crime)but possibly wrong, or unsupported by evidence. crime was higher in the 50s and 60s despite the strong economy. There is probably no correlation or a small uptick. The fact that there is so much crime during strong economic times , committed by wealthy people (Like the Enron and WorldCom frauds and also Theranos ). White collar crime is especially bad because it affects so many people (thousands of investors, pensioners, credit card fraud that affects thousands of card holders, etc.)
https://www.lawyersreadytofight.com/2020/06/15/how-economic-depressions-impact-criminal-behavior/
For example, numerous analyses have shown that during the Great Depression, the U.S.’s worst economic downturn to date, overall crime rates steadily decreased after an initial surge of violent crime at the start of the period. Crime rates continued to fall even as 68 percent of Americans were at or below the poverty line in the late 1930s.
Agree. I think long sentences are good deterrents especially against organized, white collar crime. Someone can cite a study that maybe it's not that effective, but it's probably better than shorter sentences.
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