Neuwrith's TED Talk: The Power Of The Informal Economy

Members of society are no longer able to fathom how those who live in small communities are able to grow and harvest their own foods for survival (Heilbroner 3). Just as Polanyi argues, Heilbroner concludes that the market indeed runs itself with a dialogue that reaffirms the notion of the system being in control of all modes of production and distribution without human intervention (13).

The Structural Adjustment Policy (SAPs), when policies required economic reorganization toward less government involvement in industry, agriculture, and social services is a big topic in globalization in Middle and South America (Pulsipher & Pulsipher 2012). The people rebelled on this attempt to globalization by electing governments, and now SAPs has been joined by growth in regional free trade agreement with North American Free Trade and Mesocour to reduce tariffs and other barriers among neighboring and other countries (Pulsipher & Pulsipher 2012). Throughout the region nearly everyone depends on the informal economy as a buyer or seller. Hopefully the new economy may help. (Pulsipher & Pulsipher 2012). Other examples of globalization is the role of remittances in this region among the countries and sometimes farther away (Pulsipher & Pulsipher

Authoritarianism is a political system in which a leader or a small elite group contains all real power. Individual liberties such as freedom of speech, press, and religion are subordinate to the authority of which citizens are blindly compliant to, as opposed to enjoying at will. Therefore, the people's main role in the government is to execute rather than engage. Authoritarianism is described as being a strong central government, which is essentially the exact opposite of democracy.

The public is unaware of this underground economy and the government does not have the appropriate laws implemented or pertinent training to repress this issue. Simultaneously, consumers of the black market are willing to buy commercial sex supporting this industry and making this a profitable market for traffickers. Programs are surfacing to reduce the harmful effects that this epidemic lashes on to its victims (Annito, 2011; SFGOV, 2011; Whitaker, & Hinterlong, 2008; USDH&HS, 2012). Many of these victims come from low socioeconomic status with limited resources, making them victims to sex trafficking.

“Meem did not look unhappy. She was okay with working 12 hours every day, she didn’t see anything wrong with sitting on the floor, she quietly accepted the backache” (Aulakh). However, a woman reporter from a first world country wrote the article; people in third world countries see things very differently. While Ms. Aulakh may have seen the pay as minimal, working conditions as deplorable, and the workers as unfortunate, countless people are desperate to obtain a factory job. In the New York Times Magazine article, “Where Sweatshops Are a Dream”, offers a view into the garbage dump in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, “This is a Dante-like vision of hell. It’s a mountain of festering refuse, a half-hour hike across, emitting clouds of smoke from subterranean fires” (Kristof 2009). Countless families live on the garbage dump and earn their living by scavenging for valuable trash. But “talk to these families in the dump, and a job in a sweatshop is a cherished dream, an escalator out of poverty, the kind of gauzy if probably unrealistic ambition that parents everywhere often have for their children” (Kristof). While people in first world countries see sweatshops as abominable institutions, they are a necessary step for individuals in third world countries to escape poverty, because they provide

History has known far more authoritarian regimes than any other form of government. Authoritarianism is a form of non-democratic rule defined by state power being centralized in a single person or a small group of people. Unlike democracies, these individuals in power are not dependent on the people for power. Thus, under authoritarianism, state leaders have little accountability to the public and there is little individual freedom. Additionally, authoritarian regimes are not bound by a constitution that might limit their power. Such democratic liberties such as the right to assembly, freedom of speech, and freedom of the press are highly controlled or non-existent. State policies are designed to maintain the power status quo in favor of

Human trafficking is a crime that affects practically every country in the world. No country is protected from this modern day form of slavery (Winterdyk, Perrin, & Reichel, 2012, p. 9). Human trafficking is a 32 billion dollar a year business that ranks third only behind illegal drugs and arms trafficking and is flourishing like a weed in sunlight (11 Facts About Human Trafficking, 2016). In some countries, human trafficking flourishes even more because of the business like agreement that seems to exist between two countries

In America, while it might seem like a country that trafficking does not exist, in larger cities like San Diego, human and sex trafficking is extremely prevalent, making it one of the largest underground economies. Dr. Ami Carpenter, the lead professor of “Measuring the Nature and Extent of Gang Involvement in Sex Trafficking in San Diego”, reports that “at least 110 gangs are involved in commercial exploitation of people” (2016). In other words, most gangs within the city participate in some sort of transporting of people either for the use of moving drugs to different areas, prostitution, or labor work. Furthermore, the leaders of the gangs that facilitate the trafficking, also known as pimps, are appearing to be a “significant and growing feature” (Human-trafficking study - university of San Diego, 2016) in the gang community, especially those who force women into labor. In addition, more and more gangs are not only transporting the people from their area, but also trafficking across the Mexican border and other countries to get cheap or free labor. According to the San Diego study, “20% of trafficking victims …come from Mexico and 10 other countries” (2016). These gangs are involving people from all over and forcing them into an unknown area with unknown people. Human trafficking in

Transitional criminal organizations have negatively impact the global economy. In 2009, these groups generated $810 billion due to their criminal activities which is equal to 1.5% of the global GDP United (Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 2013). Their crimes have undermined many nations’ abilities to provide a quality of life to its citizens and the stability of many financial institutions. Overall, it allows for the uneven distribution of wealth and power of the globalization process.

This review critically reviews the article “Human trafficking and Development: The Role of Microfinance” in the journal “Transformation”. The review will firstly summarize the article. Secondly, it will briefly define the main purposes of the article. Thirdly, it will analyze the effectiveness of the structure, considering how the information is set out and whether the reader can easily access the efficiency. The review will also evaluate article authority, accuracy, and relevance. In addition, it will include the response and recommendation part for final judging analysis. Overall, the article was well written, clear and relevant.

Polanyi nonetheless highlights that while labour, land, and money are essential to the market economy; the fact is that they are not commodities, in the sense that they are not objects produced for sale on the market. As Polanyi points out, ‘labour’ is ‘another name for a human activity which goes with life itself, which in its turn is not produced for sale but for entirely different reasons, nor can that activity be detached from the rest of life, be stored or mobilized’ (Polanyi 2001, 75). Similarly, ‘land’ is ‘another name for nature, which is not produced by man’; while ‘money’ ‘is merely a token of purchasing power which, as a rule, is not produced at all, but comes into being through the mechanism of banking or state finance’ (Polanyi 2001, 75). To include these ‘fictitious commodities’ in the market mechanism means to ‘subordinate the substance of society itself to the laws of the market’ (Polanyi 2001, 75). For Polanyi (2001. 76), this would inevitably result on the demolishing of society. The commodity description of labor is entirely fictitious

Public Markets play a central role in the formation of public culture and have an articulated relationship with space and society. They morphologically shape space and also shape social networks and economic systems. A large share of market not absorbed by formal economic activities becomes a part of the informal market. It also represents a significant percentage of the national economy, and guarantees jobs to a large number of people. They are rather a sign of heroic entrepreneurship (Hernando de Soto 2000), or of ‘informal survivalism’ as (Mike David 2004) puts it, a primarily mode of livelihood in majority of the Third World countries. Through their act of an informalized production of space, they maximize limited space or create space where no space exists in commercially viable prime locations, thereby creating an economic opportunity out of it and social space as a by-product.

A peaceful walk on a quiet beach, a family sitting around a dinner table, a church service on a Sunday morning. While these are simple, everyday events, they are often taken for granted in a world where people are free to do as they please. However, in many societies, this unrestricted freedom is not always granted to citizens, and people are often subject to the controlling power of their government or leader. This predicament is exactly the situation within a utopian community named the World State. Here, the government takes away much of the citizens’ humanity in an effort to achieve peace, stability, and safety. In the dystopian novel Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, technology is used to control citizens’ actions, essentially

The private sector nor the government haven’t been able to fulfill the food demand. This has generated a black market that traffics first need products and sells them to outrageous prices. This black market has help to fulfill the demand, and to reduce the consequences and negatives outcomes the shortage would have produced. For instance, a year ago the associated Press reported that there was a shortage of condoms in Venezuela, which generate a high rate of teenage pregnancy. The black market helped to decrease part of the shortage of condoms, but at the high price of 317 dollars to the official exchange

The author begin her argument by stated a research finding to support her argument. She mentions that researches from United Nations Office on drugs and crime stated criminal activities of smugglers weaken the capacity of countries to safeguard their own authority to combat crime and corruption. Moreover, the author is taking victim personal experience to support her argument by survivor share his harrowing tales of their ordeals; people crammed into windowless storage spaces or forced to sit still in urine or seawater. To further support her argument by stating the example, she