The growing shadow economy of USA is causing concern. It is also known as the informal economy and has swelled to $1 trillion. When the general economy is unhealthy this shadow tends to grow.
On a fence skirting Harlem Church is written in broken English the particulars of a drawing truck with a phone number. A male voice responds to the call saying he uses his truck to shift the goods of people. He hastily hangs up when asked if he operates a registered firm.
The church custodian said that many women who attend Thursday night gatherings run informal enterprises. They trade in food cooked in their houses. An elderly woman cuts in and denies it as she does not word to go around to the wrong quarters.
It is a difficult task to pin down those engaged in this informal economy. But it is massive – bigger than the output of many emerging nations in the world, excluding the top few. The recent recession has given it an added push. Whether that is beneficial or not depends on the point of view of the individual or group. The emergence of the informal economy can be looked upon as the success of the poor in America or a dragging weight on legal business that abide by the rules. In Harlem one can taste of both along Malcolm X Boulevard.
The most remarkable thing about the shadow economy of USA is its staggering size. It has long been linked with the rainbow hues of street peddlers in the developing part of the world. This informal economy plays an important part in Greece – as much as 25% of the total economy. In Mozambique it is over 40% in comparison to its proportion in America. But considering the bigness of the economy of USA, this informal economy is responsible for about 8% of its GDP.
Professor Fredrich Schneider of Johannes Kepler University in Linz at Austria said that in USA this shadow economy is larger than the GDP of either Australia or Turkey.
The economy that is measured by Schneider should not give rise to alarm because it is not inclusive of drug trade and counterfeit activities. The deals he peers into are legal production of service and goods that escape taxes and may be violating labour rules. The irony is that as the official one shrinks the unofficial one grows.
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario