Some further thoughts on Ben Stein's defense of IMF Chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn in the Spectator (recap: Stein claims that Strauss-Kahn is probably innocent for a lot of pretty silly reasons). Randall Munroe of XKCD takes up one of Stein's claims: "Can anyone tell me any economists who have been convicted of violent sex crimes?"
On a whim, I just did a little research, and couldn't believe what I found. Guess who holds an economics degree?
Paul Bernardo.
For those not familiar with the case, Bernardo is one of the nastiest serial killers in history. He and his wife drugged, raped, and tortured to death a number of schoolgirls in the late 80's and early 90's. The story is the stuff of nightmares.
I'll leave the debate over the rest of Mr. Stein's article to others. But as for his suggestion that studying economics precludes becoming a violent sex criminal, it seems history provides one hell of a counterexample.
One of Randall's readers provides a list of other economists who've been convicted of sex crimes.
