Stealth of nations : the global rise of the informal economy / Robert Neuwirth.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Neuwirth, Robert.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Informal sector (Economics).

Entrepreneurship.

Physical Description:

290 pages ; 22 cm

Place of Publication:

New York : Pantheon Books, [2011]

Summary:

When we think of the informal economy, we tend to think of crime: prostitution, gun running, drug trafficking. Stealth of Nations opens up this underground realm, showing how the worldwide informal economy deals mostly in legal products and is, in fact, a ten-trillion-dollar industry, making it the second-largest economy in the world, after that of the United States. Having penetrated this closed world, Robert Neuwirth makes clear that this informal method of transaction dates back as far as humans have existed and traded, that it provides essential services and crucial employment that fill the gaps in formal systems, and that this unregulated market works smoothly and effectively, with its own codes and unwritten rules. Combining a vivid travelogue with a firm grasp on global economic strategy--along with a healthy dose of irreverence and skepticism toward conventional perceptions--Neuwirth gives us an eye-opening account of a world that is operating all around us, hidden in plain sight.--From publisher description.

Contents:

The global rummage sale

Grade A, plan B, middle C, system C, vitamin E

DIY city

The global back channel

The culture of the copy

Can anybody tell me how to get to the bridge?

The upside of down the trade

Once upon a time in the west

Against efficiency

The honest con men

Why not formalize the informal?

Freedom to trade.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 265-274) and index.

ISBN:

9780375424892

037542489X

OCLC:

277197029