Robbery: A recession career?

Over the past few months, with the economic misery drawing uncomfortable comparisons to the Great Depression and President Obama's stimulus plan looking more and more like the New Deal, it has become customary to look for other connections between 2009 and 1930. Thrift is back, as is recycling last year's styles. Public transportation has become newly relevant, and public works are once again on the drawing board. Perhaps most interestingly, robbery has gained fresh cultural relevance.