| Publication |
New York, Pantheon, 2011.
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| Description |
293pWhite Spine
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| Summary/Abstract |
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.
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| 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
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| Standard Number |
9780375424892 Hb.
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