Shoplifting, Globalization, and Why You Never Walk to the Store

As American's, we face many different problems every day. An unstable economy, growing cost of living, and a breed of politicians who seem utterly out of touch with their constituents. Yet what about the other smaller issues which plague our lives? The problems that don't make the 5 o'clock news like our fragmented family life, our boredom (despite the endless distractions provided by technology) and the angry teenagers giggling and shoplifting at Barns and Noble. What possible connection could exist between globalization and the epidemic of shoplifting in one of the world’s wealthiest economies?