# Is crime good for the economy?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-crime-good-for-the-economy/381143>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [November 20, 2006, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-crime-good-for-the-economy/381143 "2006-11-20T14:33:33Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\
**Post date:** [November 21, 2006, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-crime-good-for-the-economy/381143/21 "2006-11-21T14:32:01Z")

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I recall reading years ago about a group of economists who wanted to adjust GDP to account for the ill effects of society and the economy. The example that I recall they cited was that as the society becomes more affluent it invests more money in security and insurance to protect its possessions. Their argument was that although these investments are considered part of the GDP they are only necessary because of the negative effects of the economy’s growth.

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