Burglars steal more gold when the price is high—new research
Credit: CC0 Public Domain
Are criminals rational? In his groundbreaking work of 1968, Gary Becker argued that they are. The American economist, who would go on to win the Nobel prize in economics in 1992, theorized that individuals engage in crime only if the returns are greater than the returns from engaging in legal activities, after you factor in the risk of being caught.
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