By Nick Cowen

This chapter discusses what crime is, why it provokes government action and the problems of both private and public approaches to crime prevention. For classical liberals, crime is deliberate or reckless harm imposed on persons and their property through violence or deception. Besides violating people’s interests as moral equals, crime weighs heavily on commercial societies as it raises the costs of production, trade, and exchange with strangers. Crime is a significant challenge because it is: a) a disequilibrium phenomenon resulting from an information asymmetry between potential victim and offender; b) imposes externalities on the community that are hard for isolated actors to internalize; c) frequently causes more harm than apprehended offenders could realistically compensate. Private crime prevention strategies use insurance, security, reputation, and bargaining with potential offenders to face this challenge. The success of private crime prevention is often underrated. Nevertheless, only capable states have so far managed to reduce violent crime to low levels by historical standards. State solutions bring their problems as they allow for predation and the imposition of externalities through the ‘legitimate’ political process.  

Forthcoming, 2024.