Unexpected Crime Waves

This morning Slate has an interesting Foreign Policy story on unexpected crime waves:
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=4751

The social impact of the global recession is being felt in all kinds of places in all kinds of ways. And despite the drumbeat of DW and the Sunshine Band, the impact will be felt in NL as surely as it's being felt everywhere from Calgary to Tampa to Moscow to Tokyo.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, we know little at this point about the ramifications of the economic meltdown in Alberta, where Ralph Klein's severage package is generating criticism while foreclosure rates increase:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090313.wklein0313/BNStory/National/home http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090313.wsubprimefactbox14/BNStory/Front

As for NL, the effects of Alberta's recession will be twofold.

First, many migrant (and even semi-permanent) NL workers will return from Alberta. They may bring some money, but they will be looking for work and may have to rely on social services once EI runs out. Meanwhile, the communities that once relied on Alberta remittances will face much less local revenue.

Second, surplus workers in NL will no longer be able to rely on Alberta. Once the famous contractor shortage in boom-town St. John's gets filled, the local labour market will see significant deterioration while, for the first time in a generation, Alberta will no longer offer a viable alternative labour market for young people

So what will happen? Anyone's guess at this point, though at least the Tely (whose editors seem to be reading Orwellianspin) is asking some important quesitons:
http://www.thetelegram.com/index.cfm?sid=231828&sc=80
http://www.thetelegram.com/index.cfm?sid=231834&sc=86

It's hard to imagine a Japanese-style outbreak of geriatric crime but, at some point somewhere along the line, the lineups at Costco will get shorter. At some point, the supply of $250k condos will outstrip Townie demand. At some point, VOCM could report that what's going on in the rest of the world could affect NL.

For the enraged separatists who agitate so ceaselessly for nationhood, it's a curious fact that they themselves ignore what's going on in other nations. It's a curious fact that Newfoundland nationalists seem ignorant of a global crisis that has, according to the National Post, dealt a blow to many political movements, including Scottish nationalism: http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=1387642