Fines are also fine (no pun intended) if they are massively more expensive than the action they are punishing. In short they must make the risk-adjusted cost of

Fines are also fine (no pun intended) if they are massively more expensive than the action they are punishing. In short they must make the risk-adjusted cost of doing $illegal_thing larger than the benefit from doing it. Fining a corporation 20 million for stealing 500 million... I mean I don't need to point how ridiculous this is. Of course, direct personal responsibility for the people calling the shots. Someone robbing a liquor store causes an infinitesimal amount of damage and misery compared to what powerful corpos lead by powerful men can cause.