Out with retailers paying more for security, will that mean they'll pass it on to the consumers in the form of higher prices? Joining me now to discuss that is economist Steve Moore. What do you think? Will they shrink?

You better believe it. Yeah, it gets passed on. That is going to cost consumers, no question about it. Retailers will have to raise their prices because this becomes a cost of doing business. The areas where the crime is the worst are the inner cities. Who are the victims of this? Oftentimes minority, small business owners, and their customers who tend to be minorities and low income. It's like a regressive tax. These big city mayors, like the Chicago mayor, they're saying, Well, we're not even going to prosecute.

These crimes. Even if you have a Macy's in, say, San Francisco that gets ransacked, that affects everybody across the country, doesn't it? Because that store passes it on to everyone.

That's right. But what's happening, as you know, Ed, is that a lot of these stores are now moving out of the inner cities where crime is bad, and then the low income people in those cities don't have a place to go. It is a giant problem, and we've got to have law and order or you're not going to have.

These stores. And shrinkage adds to inflation a little bit, but it still adds to inflation. 17.7% is what inflation is since the day President Biden took office. Their real wages are down about 3%. What does that mean when it comes to holiday shopping.

Well, I was seeing and saw in the Wall Street Journal the other day, they said it was going to be a ho-ho, horrible retail. Now, it's too early in the season to say that. I'm one of those people who wait until the last few days to do my Christmas shopping. But it is a very precarious time. You got a trillion dollars of credit card debt out there. People are just ripping out the credit card. They're tapping, they're swiping. How are they going to pay those bills? We'll see. Look, I'm hoping for a strong Christmas season, but you never know, people are really heavily in debt now.

When you touch on it, it's trillion dollars in credit card people are still spending. When does that break? When does the consumer not be able to handle the debt.

That they have racked up? My big worry is that when those government checks start coming, we've been deluging the economy with trillions of dollars. That can't go on that. At some point, we have to pay our bills. So the government can't keep... It would be wonderful if the government could play Santa Claus for years and years, but they can't.

So a new poll from Forbes shows that Washington State was most affected, most impacted by crime, 18 % of stores report theft every week, 13 % say it happens daily. Where you live determines the level of crime?

You better believe it. It's those big sitters. Seattle, it's Portland, it's Chicago, it's New York. Again, a lot of it is because the criminals know that these progressive mayors aren't going to do anything about it. In fact, in some cities they're saying, Well, if you steal less than $50, we won't prosecute you. What do you think they do? They steal things that are $40. Criminals aren't stupid.

It's the mayors that are. Just quickly, in 10 more seconds, when does it turn around?

Which?

The economy? Well, the stealing.

The street- When we start getting serious. It's all about crime and punishment.

Great. Thanks, Steve. I appreciate. Thank you to you and your family. Have a happy Thanksgiving. Happy Thanksgiving.

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