If you are a business owner, some of your employees may be giving you a big lump of coal this Christmas. The Wall Street Journal reports there's been a big increase in internal theft (aka "shrinkage") that's being attributed to the recession.

Employees who may not have been tempted to steal in the past are doing so this year -- whether it's theft of goods in retail or embezzlement in a non-retail business.

If you are a small business, the question is do you have internal controls in place that will prevent someone you trust from stealing? Be sure to have good internal control of your financials. You may also want to check out the possibility of an inexpensive Internet-based security camera system such as WiLife.com if you have multiple locations to monitor.

Recently while at an ice cream parlor, Clark watched a teenage employee give free ice cream to a group of friends. He intended to tell the owner, but it slipped his mind and he couldn't remember what the teen looked like when he went back to the parlor!