A spike in bank robberies in recent weeks is working its way across the country. New York City was hit by at least five on Dec. 29 alone. Seven Tampa, Fla., banks were held up over 15 days in December. Robberies are up, too, in Houston, San Diego and Washington, D.C.
At first, some in law enforcement suggested the surge represented a growing level of economic desperation in America, with unemployment and foreclosures forcing people to turn to bank heists to get by.
But another explanation is emerging: Criminals, never the brightest bulbs on the tree, are trying to cash in on the government financial rescues under way. Hearing about a $700 billion bailout, and apparently ignorant about how electronic transactions move money nowadays, they think that banks are getting huge piles of cash delivered to them from the government.
A few cheerful observations about recession statistics from The Urban Institute think tank: Each 1 percent rise in the national unemployment rate means 1.1 million more adults without health insurance, and 1 million added to Medicaid or state health programs for uninsured kids.
And, in recent history -- 9/11-sparked recession excluded -- it's taken about five years for the unemployment rate to return to pre-recession levels. So 2007's 4.6 percent rate may not be seen again for some time.
Don't be surprised if, in a few months, you find a shortage of pens in your doctor's office. With the New Year comes a new ethics code from the nation's drugmakers. It ends the longstanding practice of sales reps leaving promotional pens, pads, mugs, etc. with physicians. The policy doesn't stop distribution of drug samples, or bar consulting deals with docs or sponsorship of physician seminars -- where, along with advertising, the bulk of drug-company promo money is spent.
In January, one birth in the United States is expected to occur every eight seconds, while one death will happen every 12 seconds, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Meanwhile, international migration is expected to add one person to the official U.S. population every 36 seconds this month.
On Jan. 1, the nation's population was 305,529,237 -- up 2,743,429 from New Year's Day 2008.
The melting pot meets the military: More than 644,000 veterans of the U.S. armed forces were born in other countries than the one they served in uniform. The Migration Policy Institute said that number does not include foreign-born troops now serving.
Most of the immigrant veterans came from European or Latin American countries. California and Florida are home to 1 out of 3 foreign-born vets, with sizable numbers also found in New York, Texas, New Jersey and Virginia.
Something about disaster grant money seems to bring out the greed in local officials, researchers from George Mason University and West Virginia University contend in a new study.
Their statistical model shows a direct relationship between the amount of money allocated to a state by the Federal Emergency Management Agency between 1990 and 1999 and the ratio of public officials per 100,000 residents convicted for embezzlement, bribes and other unlawful dealings with vendors and contractors.
Examples: Florida, Mississippi and Louisiana tend to get more disaster aid and have more corruption convictions, while states like Nebraska and Colorado, which rarely get FEMA money, have low corruption rates.
(E-mail Lisa Hoffman at hoffmanl(at)shns.com and Lee Bowman at bowman(at)shns.com.)
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, http://www.scrippsnews.com)
Washington Calling
Post new comment