Petty theft, inflation, and the cost of living.

In January, construction workers at Leon Sheffield Elementary School in Decatur, Alabama, were stunned to discover that someone had made off with about 60 feet of copper tubing, leaving the school flooded. A few weeks earlier, heavy rains had left a middle school in Portland, Oregon, flooded as well. Repair workers discovered that copper vents, flashing, and trim had been cannibalized from the school's roof.

"Copper thefts are on the rise in South Texas," reports Corpus Christi NBC affiliate KRIS-TV. "Whether it comes from old, abandoned buildings or new construction sites, copper has become a valuable commodity for thieves." Thieves have "ransacked" air conditioners at fraternal halls, schools, and churches in Sherman, Texas, reports the town's newspaper, the Herald-Democrat. Copper cables were ripped out of the rafters of a Habitat for Humanity home in Apopka, Florida, and thieves are "hitting construction sites all over Central Florida," relates a wire service account. Air conditioners throughout Indianapolis have been hit, and aluminum siding has been torn from homes. Manhole covers and street grates by the dozen have been pilfered throughout the city, as well.

This crime wave is a potent economic indicator. Prices of scrap metal, particularly copper and scrap iron, have gone through the roof, driven largely by demand from China. Another crucial factor is monetary inflation, the effects of which are being felt as the price of raw materials skyrockets.

A Bloomberg News report also points out: "Costs of intermediate goods, those used in earlier stages of production, rose 1.2 percent [in January] and are up 9.3 percent in the 12 months that ended in January."

The dramatic rise in production costs will inevitably be passed along to consumers, who are discovering that wages are not keeping pace with price inflation--and many of them have no savings to buffer the economic blow. "Americans' personal savings fell to -0.5 percent last year, the first time since the Depression that the savings rate has been negative for a year," observed the February 27 Christian Science Monitor. In addition, "Average weekly earnings decreased by 0.4 percent in 2005, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics."