Economy and crime
 

Found this article this morning. Wasn't really surprised. I wondered how long it was going to take for desperate people to start taking desperate measures. This type of thing happened in the 30's and I think it's going to increase as the economy leaves more people with hard choices. Bank robberies and other crimes also increased. Wonder if this will repeat it's self. Back in the first depression some bank robbers reached a folk hero status to many. Wonder if that will happen again too?


Investigators Accuse Suspects Of Burning Homes And Cars For Money - Target 11 News Story - WPXI Pittsburgh

When I first moved to NYC it was a dangerous place. Walking down 42nd street from Bryant Park (6th Avenue) to Port Authority (8th Avenue) was like nothing it is today. Drug addicts, prostitutes, homeless, and miscellaneous ruffians were out and about. Today it's name and portrait artists, pictures and lights of Disneyland.

What was interesting to watch was the change from angry NY to the Disney NY. I always said that I believed it was a nicer place because people were all getting paid. Everyone was getting a piece of the pie from the ground up to the top of the skyscrapers.

Now, I'm seeing people pissed off again. The other day I watched someone bump into someone crossing the street and small yelling match started with the lady pulling out a pair of scissors in preparation to attack the man. A traffic officer broke up the fight by approaching the man and telling him to walk away.

I remember in the tumult of 80s in LA. I knew people who would make your car disappear across the border for a few benjamins.

No doubt that we should see an increase in these types of crimes and crime as a whole.

I suspect a lot of people will turn to organized crime and the black market for loans too. That sounds familiar too.

I wonder if more folks will turn to alcohol and drug abuse, as well?
Despair leads to poor choices...
Of course the media WILL focus on these items more, during these times.

I remember from an econ class.....industries that are recession-proof:

booze, bets, butts and bombs

Bars and casinos dont suffer.

Cigarette sales and hookers (both butts) dont suffer.

Defense contractors dont suffer.

...oh how true these words are. In NE Ohio, the crime rate is going wild and the number of unsolved murders just keeps growing. Lots of people owe other people money and the loan rates are "unbearable" or not to be discussed. It's getting ugly fast.
-----Added 3/12/2008 at 07 : 25 : 13-----
...oh how true these words are. In NE Ohio, the crime rate is going wild and the number of unsolved murders just keeps growing. Lots of people owe other people money and the loan rates are "unbearable" or not to be discussed. It's getting ugly fast. :paranoid:

Las Vegas is showing strains, so are the other casinos the explosive growth and saturation of the casinos across America. Even Macau is showing signs of retraction of business.

Wow. Just wow. It's one thing to work a system, it's another thing entirely to endanger an entire neighborhood by starting fire to your own house.

Though I do recall a few years ago a restaurant near my old high school burnt to the ground. The business had been going downhill for years and the building was nearly condemned numerous times due to earthquake damage. Arson by the owners for insurance money was on nearly everyone's minds but it turned out to be an electrical fire.

My father once told me back in the 30's he and his brother came home from school one day and the barn was smoking. They ran to get my grandfather who was filling a couple buckets. They grabbed the buckets and threw what turned out to be gas on a now rather large fire. Guess grand pa got an earful from grand ma for putting the kids in danger later that night but the insurance man saved the family farm that winter.

Fast forward a few years and as a parole officer I was driving north on the Oregon coast hwy one day and stopped into a very small store just north of Rockaway Beach Or. As I grabbed a roll of Tums and a cup of coffee I noticed the store was nearly empty. No beard, empty coolers etc... I think I bought the last pack of Tums. I went on my way to a court hearing in Astoria. Fours hours later I returned to a smoldering pile of ash. I asked around a little and it's turns out the deep fryer had been left on too high. I'm sure it was a total accident.

General Dynamics, here I come!