Off the Books


Book Description

In this revelatory book, Sudhir Venkatesh takes us into Maquis Park, a poor black neighborhood on Chicago's Southside, to explore the desperate and remarkable ways in which a community survives. The result is a dramatic narrative of individuals at work, and a rich portrait of a community. But while excavating the efforts of men and women to generate a basic livelihood for themselves and their families, Off the Books offers a devastating critique of the entrenched poverty that we so often ignore in America, and reveals how the underground economy is an inevitable response to the ghetto's appalling isolation from the rest of the country.




The Shadow Economy


Book Description

This book presents new data to give an overview of shadow economies from OECD countries and propose solutions to prevent illicit work.




The Underground Economy


Book Description

From the back cover: The papers in this ground breaking book constitute a unique collection of information about the underground economy and how it is manifested in a variety of countries. Section One attempts to measure Canada's underground economic activity and provides a specific estimate of the impact that tax changes have on its size. It also looks at the problems of tax evasion and tax avoidance. Section Two deals with the size of the underground substance economy, the legal aspects of tlhe underground economy in the United States, and an asseeement of the economic activities of the Mafia. Section Three analyzes the underground economy abroad, specifically in the United States, Britain, Mexico, Peru, Chile, Russia and China. The fourth section returns to Canada and examines some policy implications of the underground economy. A survey detailed in Section One shows that a majority of Canadians believe that they do not receive enough benefits for the taxation they pay. Section Four offers a solution to the problem of tax evasion and underground economic activity; the adoption of user fees and user taxes.




The Underground Economy in the United States and Abroad


Book Description

Monograph which aims to measure the second economy of moonlighting in the USA and the relative importance of the black economy to a nation's economic well-being. Other countries dealt with are: United Kingdom, USSR, Italy, Norway, Colombia, Canada etc., all contributed by various authors.




Rogue Money and the Underground Economy


Book Description

This easy-to-use guide covers the history, development, and current workings of cybercurrencies and the underground economy, both in the United States and around the world. The world of cybercurrency has experienced explosive growth in recent years, but that expansion has been accompanied by numerous controversies and misunderstandings about what it is, how it works, and how it relates to the underground economy and illegal activities such as money laundering, tax evasion, and human trafficking. Many illegal or malicious activities are paid for with cyber currencies. This book covers those applications. But cyber currencies also have many legitimate, constructive applications, all of which are explained in Rogue Money in clear, plain English, without embellishment or exaggeration. An authoritative and thought-provoking reference for readers seeking a greater understanding of all aspects of alternative cybercurrencies, this encyclopedia includes entries on economic history, international trade, current controversies, and its impact on the wider underground economy. It peels back the layers of jargon and obfuscation, giving each topic individual attention to show how it works and contributes to the whole.




The Underground Economies


Book Description

The most disturbing aspects of the growth of underground economies are the interrelated problems of unreported and unrecorded income. A large and growing underground economy can thwart fiscal efforts to establish budget balance and may significantly undermine the veracity of a nation's economic information system. The notion that economic information is itself endogenous raises the possibility that at least part of the economic malaise observed in most Western nations during the past two decades is essentially the result of a statistical illusion. The essays in this 1989 volume examine the problems of defining, measuring and understanding the implications of the underground economies that have emerged in many of the world's developed nations. Empirical chapters examine the conceptual problems of how to measure a phenomenon that attempts to defy detection. Alternative measurement procedures are evaluated. Specific studies are included for the United States, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Germany, Sweden, Italy, Norway, Canada, France, the Soviet Union and Hungary.







The Underground Economy in the United States


Book Description

Analyses underground economic activities in the US based on information available for the period from the late 1970s through the mid- 1980s. Based in part on national survey data on households, tax compliance studies and microeconomic sectoral studies.




Reefer Madness


Book Description

New York Times Bestseller: The shadowy world of “off the books” businesses—from marijuana to migrant workers—brought to life by the author of Fast Food Nation. America’s black market is much larger than we realize, and it affects us all deeply, whether or not we smoke pot, rent a risqué video, or pay our kids’ nannies in cash. In Reefer Madness, the award-winning investigative journalist Eric Schlosser turns his exacting eye to the underbelly of American capitalism and its far-reaching influence on our society. Exposing three American mainstays—pot, porn, and illegal immigrants—Schlosser shows how the black market has burgeoned over the past several decades. He also draws compelling parallels between underground and overground: how tycoons and gangsters rise and fall, how new technology shapes a market, how government intervention can reinvigorate black markets as well as mainstream ones, and how big business learns—and profits—from the underground. “Captivating . . . Compelling tales of crime and punishment as well as an illuminating glimpse at the inner workings of the underground economy. The book revolves around two figures: Mark Young of Indiana, who was sentenced to life in prison without parole for his relatively minor role in a marijuana deal; and Reuben Sturman, an enigmatic Ohio man who built and controlled a formidable pornography distribution empire before finally being convicted of tax evasion. . . . Schlosser unravels an American society that has ‘become alienated and at odds with itself.’ Like Fast Food Nation, this is an eye-opening book, offering the same high level of reporting and research.” —Publishers Weekly




Deep Inside the Underground Economy


Book Description

Are you fed up with giving so much of your hard earned cash to the government, then watching it get spent on ridiculous pork barrel special interest projects? Would you like to hold on to more of your money for your own special interest projects? The underground economy continues to grow in spite of ever widening attempts by the administration to regulate and tax everything we do. Millions of Americans are practicing free enterprise in today's increasingly unfree society. You too can beat the system and operate your business tax free as a "guerilla capitalist." Find out how people operate Deep Inside the Underground Economy. This is the most comprehensive how-to book available for those entrepreneurial individuals who have decided to end their slavery to wages and to government taxation as well. Discover how you can keep more of what you earn for yourself. Here you will find complete and up-to-date information on the ins and outs of guerilla capitalism and the underground economy in this country. Read case histories of real guerilla capitalists and find out exactly what worked for them and how they did it. What are the pitfalls you have to be careful of when you are moonlighting on weekends for cash or working entirely for yourself instead of working for wages? Is it possible to continue to have a legitimate above ground business and still skim off unreported income? How have other people worked out the problem of laundering money successfully? How do you keep your unreported income hidden? Find out the answers to these questions and more. If you are still working as a wage slave, but would like to move into the world of guerilla capitalists, this is the book that tells you exactly how to do it. You'll find out what the best businesses to operate are and why others wouldn't work. You'll find out how you can fiddle with your tax records so you can manage to keep more of your money out of the gaping maw of the IRS and yourself out of the prison industrial complex. Find out if barter would work for you. Is there any way to avoid banks? This is the book that shows you the ropes on the underground economy. You can find freedom in today's economy. Get Deep Inside the Underground Economy -- How Millions of Americans Are Practicing Free Enterprise in an Unfree Society and get started as a guerilla capitalist today. Book jacket.