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(Image:
source.)
Thanks to
policies that have damaged our economy's underpinnings, caused significant
hardship to everyone but the rich, and triggered a mad dash for assets that
provide some measure of downside protection, we now have what might be
described as the "Bernanke Take" (as opposed to the "Bernanke Put")
-- that is, a dramatic increase in crimes involving precious metals and other
valuables, as the Los Angeles
Times reports in "Soaring Gold Prices Trigger Jewelry
Robberies, Police Warnings":
As the precious
metal has nearly doubled in value from two years ago, gold merchants have
boosted security amid a series of brazen store robberies. Police are urging
owners of gold jewelry to be discreet about wearing it.
That stunning
rise in the price of gold is having a ripple effect: A rash of jewelry store
robberies, street muggings and home burglaries. Now, merchants are stepping
up security and police are warning everyone against flaunting their bling.
When Capt. Mark
Olvera, who runs the LAPD's Newton Division,
spotted a beefy man with a gold chain around his neck the other day, he
worried the guy might become a victim. "He looked like he could take
care of himself," Olvera said. "But
that's a couple thousand dollars ... on him."
So far this
year, gold chains have been snatched from the necks of at least 110 people
during street robberies in Olvera's South Los
Angeles division. His officers are circulating fliers and showing up at
churches and community centers to warn residents to stop wearing gold in
public, or at least to tuck it under their clothes.
"It's easy
money. It's easy to get, and it's easy to get that gold fenced. You see all
the ads, 'We buy gold,'" Olvera said.
"They sell it, melt it down and there's no regulation."
Nice one, Ben.
Can't wait to see what you have planned for us next.
Michael J. Panzner
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