In today’s New York Times, Jennifer Steinhauer writes about California farmers whose irrigation systems are being stripped of their copper wiring, presumably by methamphetamine addicts who sell the metal in the recycling market:
Theft of scrap metal, mostly copper, has vexed many areas of American life and industry for the last 18 months, fueled largely by record-level prices for copper resulting from a building boom in Asia. … Thieves have stripped the wires out of phone lines, pulled plaques off cemetery plots, raided air-conditioning systems in schools and yanked catalytic converters from cars, all to be resold to scrap metal recyclers. … But perhaps no group has been as been as consistently singled out as California farmers.
The article is uniformly interesting, even though there seems to be little hard evidence that a) it’s really meth heads who are primarily doing the stealing; and b) that farmers are really the hardest-hit group of victims. But it does make sense that farms are more vulnerable to this kind of theft than, say, construction sites, which probably have a lot more security on average.
So if the price of almonds, tomatoes, melons, and pistachios starts to climb in the coming months, remember: it was the Chinese building boom that fueled the demand for copper that led the meth addicts (maybe) to cripple the irrigation systems that damaged the crops that drove down the supply, which led to higher prices in the supermarket. Or, the shorter version: when in doubt, blame the Chinese.
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As a real estate investor here in Chicago, I’m looking forward to ideas about what to do about this.
I gave up on rehabbing (it was bad for my blood pressure) but the number of buildings here that suffer thousands in damage so that someone can make off with $50 in copper pipe is mindblowing.
My favorite story is the one where thieves stole the aluminum siding from a vacant house a few strips at a time. The neighbor said that she would see someone run between her house and the vacant one next door and then hear a zipping sound as they pulled the siding off while running at full speed. They would then head straight into the alley through the backyard.
It finally stopped when I chained the backyard fence.
As a real estate investor here in Chicago, I’m looking forward to ideas about what to do about this.
I gave up on rehabbing (it was bad for my blood pressure) but the number of buildings here that suffer thousands in damage so that someone can make off with $50 in copper pipe is mindblowing.
My favorite story is the one where thieves stole the aluminum siding from a vacant house a few strips at a time. The neighbor said that she would see someone run between her house and the vacant one next door and then hear a zipping sound as they pulled the siding off while running at full speed. They would then head straight into the alley through the backyard.
It finally stopped when I chained the backyard fence.
A month ago there was a story in the local news where in an abandoned store a guy died from catching fire while trying to rip copper wire from the walls.
The story stated that it was just to raise cash for his family.
Ahh, link here:
http://www.washingtontimes.com/article/20070717/METRO/107170036/1004
A month ago there was a story in the local news where in an abandoned store a guy died from catching fire while trying to rip copper wire from the walls.
The story stated that it was just to raise cash for his family.
Ahh, link here:
http://www.washingtontimes.com/article/20070717/METRO/107170036/1004
“When in doubt, blame the Chinese”
This is a pretty accurate description of the current campaign platform of the Democratic Party.
Back in the 19th century, democrat politicians, sponsored by big labor, eagerly pushed for a legislation that became known as the Chinese Exclusion Act.
Now the same political party is agitating for punitive measures against China.
The Democrats just never change.
“When in doubt, blame the Chinese”
This is a pretty accurate description of the current campaign platform of the Democratic Party.
Back in the 19th century, democrat politicians, sponsored by big labor, eagerly pushed for a legislation that became known as the Chinese Exclusion Act.
Now the same political party is agitating for punitive measures against China.
The Democrats just never change.
The link to the Chinese building boon seems plausible. But the more important questions is:
What does this have to do with the price of tea in China?
The link to the Chinese building boon seems plausible. But the more important questions is:
What does this have to do with the price of tea in China?