His half brothers, who were in their teens by the time Robbins was born, learned the basics of shoplifting and picking pockets from an uncle and later graduated to more serious crimes.

NEWYORKER: A Pickpocket��s Tale

Nor did he walk, preferring to scamper on all fours, picking the pockets of courtiers and stealing kisses.

BBC: Who was Peter the Wild Boy?

He is his own steer, stall, shade, and duke man, though, unlike street criminals, he lets his victims know that he will be picking their pockets.

NEWYORKER: A Pickpocket��s Tale

Or to put it another way, a good proportion of all that innovation and trading was not serving the wealth-creating instincts of businesses and households, but was (consciously or unconsciously) picking their pockets or extracting rent from them - by selling them stuff that was impossibly complex and whose true risks were hidden.

BBC: How scary is a financial transactions tax?

You can blame the initiative process and the uneducated voters who try to vote themselves rich by picking their own pockets.

FORBES: Will Obama Bail Out California?

Another draw: the deep pockets of insurer Lloyd's of London and another firm, which are picking up Mr. Stanford's legal tab.

WSJ: Stanford's Defense Turns Into Legal Circus