So we should clamp down on white collar crime? It turns out that the top social groups are more prone to embezzlement and fraud. The bottom ones seem to prefer mugging and burglary. Shouldn't we be equally ruthless against both groups? No we shouldn't.

These types of crime have a different impact on their victims. Burglary, mugging, rape and murder all have a devastating effect on individuals. They traumatise and leave lasting injuries or destroy lives.

Shoplifting and embezzlement often have more anonymous victims. The crimes are spread out so that many people pay their costs. The burden on each individual is usually small. To have one's valuables stolen, one's home wrecked, or to be crippled by a street thug is not the same as paying half a penny extra for a light bulb.

We do not walk the streets at night in fear of being embezzled. People want the priority to be on the crimes which have shocking impact on their victims. The police prefer to pursue middle class motorists and white collar criminals. Let shops deal with shoplifting, companies handle embezzlement and fraud, and the police deal with the stuff that destroys lives.