countries. Shuttle trade may be decimated by the resulting
bureaucratic bottlenecks.
Still, it may no longer be needed now that Poland acceded
to the EU. Shuttle trade thrives on poverty. It arbitrates
between inefficient markets. It satisfies unrequited
demand for goods. The single market ought to rid Europe
of all these distortions - and, thus, most probably of this
makeshift though resilient solution, the shuttle trader.
XXVI. The Blessings of the Black Economy
Some call it the "unofficial" or "informal" economy,
others call it the "grey economy" but the old name fits it
best: the "black economy". In the USA "black" means
"profitable, healthy" and this is what the black economy
is. Macedonia should count its blessings for having had a
black economy so strong and thriving to see it through the
transition. If Macedonia had to rely only on its official
economy it would have gone bankrupt long ago.
The black economy is made up of two constituent
activities: