Criminal minds

Re “The economics of crime,” Opinion, March 20

Thanks for the Op-Ed article about how consumer confidence is an indicator of crime rates -- about criminals committing or increasing their crimes because they’re depressed about the latest recession. Richard Rosenfeld’s analysis is merely an extension of the myth that employment downturns are an indicator of crime upturns. Crime is caused by greed, not need. As an adult probation and parole officer for more than 14 years, I dealt with more criminals than I care to remember, and not one I ever met was moved to commit his crimes after reading the Economist.

Mike McLane

Dana Point