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The NY Times reports Arrests for shoplifting soar as the economy dips.
Police departments across the country say that shoplifting arrests are 10 percent to 20 percent higher this year than last. The problem is probably even greater than arrest records indicate since shoplifters are often banned from stores rather than arrested.
Much of the increase has come from first-time offenders… making rash decisions in a pinch, the authorities say. But the ease with which stolen goods can be sold on the Internet has meant a bigger role for organized crime rings, which also engage in receipt fraud, fake price tagging and gift card schemes, the police and security experts say.
Meanwhile, the Washington Post reports November sales of existing and new Homes fall.
Sales of existing homes fell 8.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted 4.49 million units in November compared with October. Sales were down 10.6 percent compared with the same period a year ago, according to the data from the National Association of Realtors.
Median home prices fell 13.2 percent, to $208,800.
The drop in existing-home prices is the largest since the Realtors began collecting data in 1968 and likely the largest decline since the Great Depression.
Four at Four continues with news of Afghanistan and Obama, Iraq and the British withdrawal, and IRS audits (and income) are down.