Wages Of Crime: Black Markets, Illegal Finance, And The Underworld Economy

By R.T. Naylor and 0 R.T. Naylor

Book Overview

"Never in history has there been a black market tamed from the supply side. From Prohibition to prostitution, from gambling to recreational drugs, the story is the same. Supply-side controls act to encourage production and increase profits. At best a few intermediaries get knocked out of business. But as long as demand persists, the market is served more or less as before. In the meantime, failure to 'win the war' against crime] becomes a pretext for increasing police budgets, expanding law enforcement powers, and pouring more money into the voracious maw of the prison-industrial complex." from the IntroductionR. T. Naylor specializes in the study of smuggling, black markets, and international financial crime. Wages of Crime takes the reader into the shadowy underworld of modern criminal business arms trafficking, gold smuggling, money laundering, and terrorist financing. Naylor dissects the schemes by which illegal entrepreneurs disguise their acts, manage their take, and eventually enjoy the loot. The author asserts that much of what police, press, politicians, and the public understand about international crime is based on myth and misrepresentation. A fully revised final chapter covering events since the book's initial publication in early 2002 brings Wages of Crime up to date."

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0801439493
• ISBN13: 9780801439490
• Release Date: January 2002
• Publisher: Cornell University Press
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 0.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.7" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

cornell press

Multi faceted and objective look at the underworld economy. Many statitistics and and overwhelming amount of detailed historical information. Some sources not sited in what could appear to be biased editorializations, but these observations are few and far in between. All in all a great overview.

recomended

I really think this book gives a great inside in to the economics of ilegal activities.

A better understanding of Black Markets than regulators have

R.T. Naylor has a better understanding of illicit markets, than most regulators have. He has obviously done extensive research, on the mechanics of money laundering for example, and knows the legitimate banking system, as well as the underground financial system. I suspect his thesis that organized crime is a myth, may be quite controversial. Nonetheless, he backs up his statements with convincing arguments. The only reason, I did not rate this book 5 stars, is that he slips in his political viewpoints, that are decidedly left of center. As an example, when speaking of Republican congressman Henry Hyde's attempt to reform how banks report questionable transactions to the government, he states, "And for a time, Representative Hyde shifted his energies to more pressing matters, leading the abortive move to impeach Bill Clinton-not because Clinton had gutted the social welfare system, capitulated to the medical establishment on health care, or committed mass murder in Iraq but because of his idiosyncratic taste in custom flavored cigars". (pp.277)These types of gratuitous statements, while rare in this book, take away some of the force of the dilemma most Western countries face in dealing with an underground economy. Still, this is an excellent book, that reads like a college textbook, with priceless insights on offshore banking, money laundering, the underworld gold economy, crime control, and other topics. I strongly suggest this book, as a social commentary of the black market and undergorund economy.