CityPoop Business Community

The conclusion we draw from this tale of two cities is not that the people who lost jobs in Buffalo should have become self-employed street vendors. Instead, we infer that, particularly in developing countries, a thriving underground economy can help generate wealth that would not exist without it.

When they departed, they left behind empty houses and a decaying urban center. In India, mobility is far less than in the United States. Hence, one might expect to find that Ahmedabad became plagued by high unemployment when the mills shuttered, perhaps even beset with civil unrest. In fact, Ahmedabad is thriving-all because of its [...]

In 1959 the completion of the St. Lawrence Seaway provided a shortcut around the port at Buffalo, New York. The city’s economy began a gradual deterioration as fewer and fewer ships stopped there. The city’s population declined by over 50 percent as residents sought opportunities elsewhere. Buffalo became a shell of its former self.

On a worldwide basis, about one-third of annual world income goes unreported. As noted earlier, estimates for the United States center on about 10 percent, while it is believed that around 20 percent of income in Europe is underground and thus goes unreported.

Congress increased the length of eligibility for unemployment benefits to almost two years. In response, some of the people receiving those extended benefits began to seriously seek “offthe- books” jobs, just as their counterparts have long done in Europe. What is a way of life for the unemployed in France, Italy, and Spain has started [...]