ABSTRACT
The German inflation offers a hitherto unique opportunity for studying the criminological implications of abrupt economical changes which affected the daily life of the whole population more thoroughly and disastrously than ever before in modern times. In spite of the existence of a general crime wave, convictions for coining went down from 341 in 1921 to 156 in 1923, and jumped up to 1,094 in 1924 immediately after the stabilization. The initial difficulties of changing over from war to peace might have been overcome more easily but for a new factor which provided entirely unprecedented opportunities for committing crime: the motor vehicle. A favourite method of making money is to carry on a business as a car-breaker, to buy very cheap second-hand cars and to steal other much superior cars of the same make, then to change number plates and registration books and to sell the stolen cars.
