Why Crime Is Up

Why would crime be dramatically increasing? Well, consider that for the five past years (2001-2005) real income of average working-age households fell a total of $3,000.* And although the price of gasoline, groceries and heating have accelerated substantially, the U.S. Labor Department people seem to think they should excludes the food and energy sectors from their core price statistics. Of course, that makes quotes about the cost of living look far better than the reality. But people feel the difference in their wallets.

People who quote statistics tell us that unemployment looks good. Tell that to the people out of work or working for half of their previous salary and paying for health insurance out of pocket. Oddly enough, a guy can look for work for two years and easily evade the unemployment statistics radar. The Labor Department has a narrow definition of "unemployed", including the criterion that people must be actively looking for work for the past 4 concurrent weeks.

Why is crime up? It is simple. The economy is down the toilet for many people..

*"PRO-CON: IS THE U.S. ECONOMY IN GOOD SHAPE?", Kansas City Star, November 6, 2006.