The mighty shadow economy

The $10 trillion black market amounts to “an economic superpower” second in size only to the U.S., said Robert Neuwirth at ForeignPolicy.com.

Robert Neuwirth

ForeignPolicy.com

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This underground system challenges our established trade agreements, copyright rules, and labor laws, but “there’s plenty that’s positive, too.” The informal economy “distributes products more equitably and cheaply than any big company can,” and it’s narrowing the digital divide. We can learn a lot from the “resilience, self-organization, and group solidarity” that drive trade in the shadows.

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