Shoplifting is on the rise. Before the coronavirus pandemic began, retailers typically had less than 1% of their merchandise stolen. More recently, retailers have seen that number jump to between 2% and 3% .

In an industry where the typical profit margin is between 0.5% and 3.5%, that is a problem. It also explains why retailers such as Target are closing locations in soft-on-crime communities run by Democrats .

As inflation eats bank accounts and paychecks, retail theft also causes a more pernicious problem.

It contributes to inflation as businesses respond to their losses by raising prices. Not only does the public have to deal with inflation from the fiscally reckless Biden administration and Federal Reserve , but they must also endure it thanks to the Democratic district attorneys that billionaire George Soros helps put in power.

Shoplifting is not a problem that merely hurts multibillion-dollar corporations, either. It is bad for consumers who bear the brunt of it with higher prices and for small businesses that don't have a financial cushion. Most retail small businesses are the victims of shoplifting, and nearly half (46%) have increased their prices due to increased shoplifting, according to a study from the Chamber of Commerce.

Given that the purchasing power of the U.S. dollar has decreased by 16% since Biden took office less than three years ago, criminals eating a point or two out of retailers’ margins are making the problem worse at a time when the public needs relief from inflation.

Yet liberals and leftists continue to defend criminal behavior, even as the public suffers the consequences.

“It’s much easier to frame people who steal baby formula and medicine as monsters to be jailed than acknowledge our politics and economic priorities create conditions where people steal baby formula to survive,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) posted in 2022.

CBS Mornings host Tony Dokoupil defended the shoplifting spike on national television in June 2021.

“That reads as an act of desperation. You're not getting rich off what you take from a Walgreens,” he said. “You're getting probably something you need.”

After a Seattle judge released a prolific homeless shoplifter who tried to steal a 70-inch TV from Target in 2022, Hannah Krieg of the Stranger, a left-wing alternative newspaper in the city, defended the action.

"Crime is often a symptom of poverty, and I think Target will survive the damage,” Krieg wrote . “But of course, so many people need a pound of flesh when a poor person does something silly that hurts no human person.”

Apologists for crime have no place in positions of power in this country, and stores and communities need to take action to stop shoplifters. While former President Donald Trump suggesting that shoplifters be shot is downright crazy, there are other options.

Communities can enforce shoplifting laws on the books, deterring people from doing it; retailers can lock goods up behind glass, put more items behind staffed counters, and hire workers to check receipts to ensure people do not leave their businesses with stolen goods.

Since the Biden administration is failing to cool inflation, retailers and communities must address it themselves. If not, the public will continue to suffer.

Tom Joyce ( @TomJoyceSports ) is a political reporter for the New Boston Post in Massachusetts.