Sicily had 24 percent of Italy’s robberies with 9 percent of its population
Evidence
In 1990, for instance, Sicily, with only 9 percent of the total Italian population, accounted for 24 percent of the nationwide number of robberies. Although crime may be related to other causes such as unemployment, it is natural to infer that mafia protection is useless at best and possibly bogus. But even without the benefit of any conspiratorial logic, there is a sound theoretical reason why the presence of the mafia encourages crime. This does not imply that mafia protection is not effective; on the contrary, it is effective—but in protecting the wrong people. — Diego Gambetta, The Sicilian Mafia The Business of…, 83
Categorization
Category: Factual Claims
Related
- Sicily’s robbery share vastly exceeded its population share in 1990 (similarity 0.95)
- Sicilian murder rates more than doubled between 1911 and 1921. (similarity 0.83)
- The mafia originated in southern Italy and nowhere else (similarity 0.82)
- The mafia has remained confined to western Sicily for over a century (similarity 0.82)
- Mafia protection of thieves both encourages crime and drives victims to seek protection (similarity 0.80)
- The extortion-only view of mafia protection stems from an informational bias (similarity 0.80)
- Mafia emerged in prosperous divided-property districts, not poor ones (similarity 0.79)
- Mafia protection treats crime as disputes, not offenses (similarity 0.79)
- Mafia violence exceeds what rational enforcement economics would require (similarity 0.79)
- A thriving economy alone cannot explain mafia origins. (similarity 0.78)
- The Mafia industry shows strong geographic rigidity within Italy (similarity 0.78)
- Mafia in rebellious Ionian Calabria took on populist, antistate connotations. (similarity 0.78)
- Protection in southern Italy bypassed the state’s monopoly and entered the market (similarity 0.78)
- Land reform in Sicily dramatically expanded landowners while shrinking available protection (similarity 0.78)