If there was no jail time, then everyone would try to do that (What could be the worst scenario - just losing all your stolen money). That wouldn't work.
The worst case scenario, at least in many european countries, would actually be that you loose all your stolen money and that your future income above a state-defined 'existence minimum' is automatically seized.
Prison, on the other hand, means that society spends a lot of money to make your live worse without any obvious advantage, at least for non-violent crimes.
> The worst case scenario, at least in many european countries, would actually be that you loose all your stolen money and that your future income above a state-defined 'existence minimum' is automatically seized
Do you have studies to back up the fact that you just questioned what he said?
Seriously, this "do you have studies" BS is getting out of hand. He made an argument (which btw includes more context than what you quoted), and stated his opinion of what would happen in a hypothetical situation. And it's also obvious to everyone who has ever casually conversed that "everyone" in this context means "many people", not literally everyone.
You can disagree and say "That's not what's going to happen because ...", or even "Study such and such shows that this not necessarily happens...".
Asking for studies to back up his thinking is BS. This is not some peer reviewed journal, nor is he writing a thesis. This is a simple conversation. And even if he gave 4-5 studies there would be absolutely no guarantees that those studies aren't crap, aren't invalidated by subsequent studies, aren't only describing what works in some specific cultural context, etc.
This is sociology and human behavior, not physics or math to have some be all end all studies answering specific questions.
Prison, on the other hand, means that society spends a lot of money to make your live worse without any obvious advantage, at least for non-violent crimes.