Fines that constitute "pocket change" are sufficient to discourage crimes that would generate something less than pocket change. It's not as if scamming $250 becomes a cost-effective bet when you're independently wealthy.

No, but say, the fine for speeding becomes "pocket change" if you're independently wealthy.

Sure. That's not relevant for illegal activity undertaken for profit though.

Scaling up fines based on wealth might help reduce minor crimes like speeding. I'm not sure how effective that really is, though, since low income people still speed.

I remember hearing about this. Seems like an interesting way to prevent traffic fines from becoming a regressive tax. And obviously it points out one of the many ways in which my comment oversimplifies the criminal justice system :-)

In this case the "profit" part of my equation would change based on individual circumstances.

The "profit" of speeding to your finance job where you make $500/hour is much higher than that of speeding to your minimum wage job at McDonalds.

I think that's why we punish serious crimes with time in prison, not fines.