Britain: Cheap Chinese Goods Make Burglars 'Redundant'. "Not Worth Stealing"

Where would we be without research? From PhysOrg:

Globalisation, and particularly cheaper electronic goods from China and the Far East, has altered behaviour among Britain's burglars according research in progress at the University of Leicester.

James Treadwell, a lecturer in Criminology from the University of Leicester's Department of Criminology suggests that the incredible rise of the new superpower has made burglars 'redundant' due to the decline in cost of household goods traditionally targeted by thieves.

Treadwell is currently researching how crime has changed over time. He commented:

"The last decade has been a remarkable one where crime is concerned, with massive changes and shifts. If we look back to the 1980s and 1990s, the type of staple crimes would be, for example, very often burglary and car crime and those crimes worked because they followed a business model and it was possible to break into a house and steal a video recorder and sell that at a profit.

"Cheap labour in China has had an impact on the type of crime that's committed in the UK and the type of goods that are stolen today. Gradually, the prices of such goods has fallen so low as to they almost have no resale value. If you can buy a DVD player for £19.99, it's simply not worth stealing.">>>MORE