The Black Market

The consumer market is an extremely complicated place and the rate at which it is growing and changing has been exponentially increasing over the last several decades. New technologies make the transfer of funds and services easier then ever but they also allow for more legal and moral loop holes to be taken advantage of. Being a consumer in this modern economic climate requires a savvy understanding of things like the global market, international financial interests and malicious scammers looking for easy marks. Being an effective consumer means having and using a small, workable, amount of knowledge about the consumer market place, or being consumer literate. Consumer literacy is specifically important to college students because companies tend to target them with deals full of hidden fees and bundled services and rely on them not to question what they are being asked to pay.

Russian organized crime in the United States is unique to traditional organized crime, specifically La Costa Notra, in several ways. These unique traits distinguish the abilities and operations of Russian organized crime. It is generally agreed by researchers and practitioners that Russian groups are generally less structured than Italian organized crime groups. Additionally, they have thrived by adapting to and exploiting technology. Many Russian organized crime members are highly educated, including Semyon Moglievich who had a degree in economics (Radanko, 2011). There are also Russian mafia members who have PH.D’s in mathematics, engineering, or physics (Friedman, 2000). Many law enforcement agencies characterize Russian organized crime as organized crime groups who primarily speak the Russian language, thus comprised of groups from different regions of the former Soviet Union. For the purposes of this paper, this author will follow the same guideline to characterize Russian organized crime.

Not too long ago in downtown St. Louis Missouri, there was a boy named Cade Burgundy, He was the leader of the second most powerful gang in town. The Market Street Mafia. If you were walking down the streets in St louis and you saw boys in red leather jackets and navy blue pants, you know you’re in trouble. The Mafia was known for their bloody spoon attacks, (they also carried heaters). They would often go to Busch Stadium to watch the game but end up fighting with Dragon gang members and getting kicked out. The Clark Ave Dragons were the most powerful gang in St. Louis, their leader was Cameron Diaz. Cade and Cameron were best friends until 8th grade when Cade asked out the girl Cameron had liked since 3rd grade. After that their group

Shoah Foundation 's websi te details a single view on a single comm unity - the

Through the evolution of this summary and analysis of the happenings of the arms race, something very interesting is happening on the global political front. Basically the Soviets keeping pace with the

Slavery began in America in 1619 when African slaves were brought to Jamestown, Virginia, to help in crop production. For two and a half more centuries, these people were exploited and mistreated for the success of the white man. In 1861, the long-fought conflict caused the Civil War, which ended in 1865 with the publication of the 13th Amendment. This was supposed to be the end of slavery in America, but if this were so, this essay wouldn’t exist. Instead of the outright exploitation of African-Americans, slavery has evolved into a $150 billion industry that takes people from their homes and forces them into unpaid or underpaid service anywhere around the world. Human trafficking comes in many forms and affects a variety of people, but no matter the situation, it’s still a crime that ruins lives.

Similar to the Italian Mafia, Russian organized crime is comprised of several groups. These groups have managed to survive the test of time by thriving and coexisting with one another. These accomplishments can be attributed to their complex leadership structure which has evolved throughout the several centuries that Russian organized crime has existed. This paper will focus on explaining two of the three structures and the individual positions within those structures that are mentioned in the textbook for the Organized Crime class at Clemson University, Organized Crime: A World Wide Perspective (Grennan & Britz, 2006).

Organized crime quickly began eating away at the Soviet Machine and during the regime of Leonid Brezhnev in the 60's and 70's corruption became a way of life within the Soviet elite. The result was a thriving black market. Shakedowns that were once conducted in the shadows were now going on in broad daylight. By the 1970's, small illegal businesses sprang

The cold war was the start of the major changes in human history. Two important events that occurred in it was the arms race and space race. “An arms race denotes a rapid increase in the quantity or quality of instruments of military power by rival states in peacetime. A close examination of the historical evidence reveals a different picture. Political purposes almost always drive and govern arms races. It is common for a major race to be initiated by a state interested in changing the political status quo” (Arms Race). The arms race was a major rearmament between the USSR and the United States. Each country was producing new weapons at an alarming rate to be better than the other. The newly created nuclear weapons were a major playing force for the

Perhaps the most notable aspect of the Russian Organized Crime syndicate is that it does not have "typical" members as do other organized crime organizations such as the Yakuza which pulls from poverty ridden areas as previously discussed. Russian organized crime is unique in that the organization is deeply embedded in the post-Soviet political system which is normally a characteristic attributed to that of terrorist organizations, not organized crime (Finckenauer, 2001). With that being noted, a Russian Organized Crime member is always looked upon as ruthless and to be operating from some level of corruption within or originating from the mother state. Due to such abilities to pull from various demographics, the Russian mafia "in-house"

There are two notions that explain the nations responses to transnational crime, those two responses are the asymmetrical thesis and the interdependence thesis. To begin with, the asymmetrical thesis believes that the governments fight against illicit trade is not successful due to the asymmetrical nature of the competitor’s organizations (Naim,2005). This thesis consists of four key characteristics that can tie into why the bureaucratic governments are failing to combat transnational global markets. The first characteristic demonstrates how these bureaucracies can be arranged by hierarchies, therefore making communication between the different units inebriating if you are not higher on the hierarchy. Next, the government must work within certain boundaries because of budget limitations, consequently redirect the focus from these crimes to public sector agencies because it is from national coffers and takes precedence(Naim,2005). The third, involves governmental agencies having restrictions due to legal and politics issues, which in

Oligarchy as it is known in Aristotle’s politics; is a government run by a small group of people, ‘elites’. However, the oligarchy which this essay addresses is currently referred to in Russia as “a very wealthy and politically well-connected businessman...one who is the main owner of a conglomerate of enterprises and has close ties with the president” (Aslund and Dabrowski, 2007; 144). In the 1990s Russia’s economic reforms are said to have created the rise of a small group of oligarchs who gained an overwhelming amount of power and control. By 1997, this small group of previously unknown businessmen and bankers, often with gangster ties, had acquired control of many of the key parts of the Russian economy. Why did they emerge? It is argued by David Satter that three processes facilitated the emergence of the oligarchs. The first was hyperinflation and the social, economic and political consequences. The second was the process of privatisation, and finally the third was criminalisation (Satter, 2003). However, were these powerful oligarchs just a phase during the transition from Soviet to Post-Soviet Russia? Even with Putin’s efforts and declaration to distance the oligarchs from politics and power, and start a war against them exemplified by the Khodorkovsky affair, are oligarchs still significantly powerful in contemporary Russia? What is the role they play in Russia? It seems that the power of those original oligarchs of the 1990s has decreased or been concealed in

Boosted by the globalisation, the resale networks of the Internet and the lure of gain, inevitably, the laundering of such huge sums of black money can eventually generate serious conflicts between governments, dealers of all sorts, auction houses and collectors on a global level.

The world of international business is wrought with complexity and full of people that lurk in the shadows. Individuals outside of the business world are unaware of the fact that these shadowy figures are what is needed to get business done. There is always some level of corruption and lack of ethics in the most successful businesses. One major example of this is described in detail by a man that tried to tear down and expose the dark underbelly of international business. His book is Red Notice: A True Story of High Finance, Murder, and One Man's Fight for Justice by Bill Browder. Bill is not the only person to experience the great corruption that, in his case, occurred in Russia. The corruption in Browder’s story came to a head when a young attorney of Hermitage Capital, founded by Browder, was killed in a Russian prison by the guards. Corruption is what Browder uncovered, but it was the great lengths that the Russian elite will go to either save face, or to bury the evidence, that makes this book a fascinating read and a must have for all those pursuing an education in business. The book points out the effect of globalization on the newly formed Russia, the effect of corruption as it infects global business, and the change that can come from the death of a single man.

Russia, one the last remaining authoritarian superpower has had an undeniable impact on the global scale, from the massive tensions during the cold war, to the possible medaling in 2016 U.S elections, Russia has always had its thumbprint in history. But, like its ally North Korea, little is known about their government. Putin brought an interesting and dangerous political system of Kleptocracy, which is usually the state to expand their own wealth and exploit the resources of the country to further propel a few members of the government. Putin is worth well over two hundred billion dollars making him one of the richest human beings on earth. An institutional argument can be used to describe how Putin’s empire was created, “No sensible