Broadly speaking, the amount of crime recorded by the police in England and Wales increased tenfold between 1950 and 1993. For comparable offenses the British Crime Surveys confirmed an increase in crime between 1981 and 1993. Most other countries with developed economies, with the exception of Japan, have experienced increases in recorded crime since 1950. In developed countries, economic growth, with the increase in the availability of consumer goods and opportunities for theft, is far more likely than economic deprivation to account for the very marked increases in acquisitive crime. It is likely that social developments in Western countries since 1950 have tended to reduce the social controls and social bonding that inhibit most people from committing offenses. Lengthy periods of high unemployment, by breaking an important social bond, may create a group of young people who are more likely to commit offenses. 6 figures and 17 references