Streetwise: Turning to crime at time of crisis

It's not surprising that entertainment conglomerate Disney saw its net profit from January-March plunge by 46 per cent to US$1.13 billion (Bt40 billion).

The drop was attributed to restructuring charges, declining DVD sales and advertising cutbacks. That is understandable, given that people are inclined to spend less on movies and Disney character merchandise.

Disney's parks and resorts suffered a 12-per-cent drop in revenue, while the studio entertainment division saw sales slide 21 per cent.

As companies shed workers, at all levels, to cope with declining sales, the door to employment is apparently tightly shut for job seekers. That explains why the quarterly net profit of Adecco, the world's largest recruitment company, dived 83 per cent to ¤23 million (Bt1.1 billion).

The Zurich-based company is seeing no end to the bleeding soon, as there is no clear sign of stabilisation yet.

Even Pablo Picasso and Alberto Giacometti could not find buyers for their paintings and sculptures. At a major auction at Sotheby's, Picasso's 1938 portrait of his daughter Maya, "The Daughter of the Artist at Two-and-a-half Years with a Boat", was expected to fetch $16 million-$24 million but failed to reach the minimum bid of $12.5 million.

And now, there are fears that economic difficulties will lead to more crime, as people will be driven to desperation for survival.

According to Don Weatherburn, a criminologist at the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research in Australia, unemployment is expected to double to 10 per cent next year, but the good news is that it would not take place overnight.

"If people can't get a job immediately, they don't start getting straight into crime," he said. "But by the time they've gone for a year or two without a job, they do start drifting into crime."

That is really good news. Even the criminologist agreed that most people are indeed good. When losing a job, they would try to get another one and try again until there is no more hope.

Hopefully, Thais fit his profile, or the only products that would sell well in the near future would be wrought iron and locks.