London Bridge Isn't Falling Down, Yet

Rioters across England continued to do their part in reassuring the world that the country will be ready to host the Summer Olympics next year. An increased police presence in London that was credited with ending much of the violence there may be partially to blame for the rioting that has spread to other cities throughout the country, as the police presence in other cities was reduced so that reinforcements could be sent to the capital. While the police will probably want to take credit for any reduction of violence in London, there have been reports that rioting in London has also decreased because local communities have armed themselves and organized in an attempt to keep the rioters at bay. The so called vigilante groups that have armed themselves with baseball bats, crow bars and all sorts of other improvisational street weapons have fought back against the roving gangs of arsonists and looters. Although the government said that these groups could end up making the situation even worse, they responded by saying that if the police couldn't protect their neighborhoods they would do so themselves. It's been widely reported that Amazon.com AMZN has seen a huge surge in baseball bat sales in England, as the people arm themselves against the rioters. When the rioters have been questioned about why they are burning their own neighborhoods down and looting from local business, in an act of solidarity with organized gangs of violent, looting thieves everywhere they blame their criminal acts on perceived social injustices but it might be that they are just taking advantage of the unrest to give a new meaning to window shopping. The situation has become serious enough that Prime Minister David Cameron recalled vacationing members of the British Parliament from their summer recess to discuss possible remedies for the situation. Boris Johnson, the mayor of London, has asked that the government to reconsider plans to reduce government spending by lower the police force's budget. There's no telling how much longer the riots across England will continue or if they will become a regular event like the car burnings in France but it doesn't bode well for the United Kingdom's economic recovery. As the British government follows through with unpopular measures aimed at lowering the country's deficit, angry youths may find all sorts of new reasons to burn buildings, loot from shops and assault innocent passers by. For those betting for England, check out the CurrencyShares British Pound Sterling FXB ETF. For those betting against, the CurrencyShares Swiss Franc Trust FXF is probably a safer place to put your money.