There is this notion that the majority of what is seen is only a fraction of everything that exists.

Take the internet for example. A simple search query can return billions of results, but they still
only make up of a tiny piece of the internet. In fact, those billions and billions of results comprise
of less than 1% of the internet (Pagliery, pg.1). The rest is made up of the Deep Web; a system
that cant found through common search engines such as Google or Bing. One of the biggest
names in the Deep Web, the Silk Road, recently made headlines as a secret massive illegal drug
trade. While the Silk Road was hidden, its impact was certainly not. The Silk Road is believed to
have made approximately 1.2 billion dollars in illegal drug sales across the Dark Web (U.S
Supreme Court, pg. 15). The Silk Web is just one example of an underground market. In general,
underground markets consist of transaction done illegally. Underground markets are crucial in
establishing an economy as they spur economic growth and provide many economic
opportunities.
The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of most countries is largely tied to underground markets.
GDP, which is a number that consists of the value of all legal sales within a country, is currently
the standard for assessing a countries economy. In 2014, economists were able to identify the
connection between GDP and underground markets when the European Union (EU) started to
include illegal drug sales and prostitution in a countrys GDP. After this addition, countries
received huge boosts in their GDP. Italy received a 2% percent boost from the change; allowing
the country to finally come out of a recession. Other countries such as Finland, Sweden and the
U.K received a 5% percent increase in their economy (Zumbrun, pg.1). However, these boosts do
not show the whole pictures as it is often difficult to determine how much of an impact an
underground market has on an economy when the illegal transactions are purposely made
hidden. The global management consulting firm, A.T Kearney, performed extensive research in
order to better identify how underground markets impact GDP and in turn a countries economy.
They found that a large of portion most economies are made up of underground markets. 31% of
Bulgarias GDP and 28% of Croatias GDP are owed to underground market economies. Even
larger economies such as Italy can owe up to a quarter of their economy to underground markets
(pg.4). Therefore, without underground markets most countries economies would be rubble.
Underground markets can a help a countrys economy in many different ways. Furthermore, they
do not solely consist of prostitution and drug trafficking. For example, in Italy prostitution and
drug trafficking do thrive, however, the largest underground market in Italy actually consists of
off the book jobs unrelated to drug trafficking and prostitution. According to Christopher Edens
article, In Italy, High Payroll Taxes Stand in Way of Recovery, published in the Wall Street
Journal, high business and payroll taxes, which together take some two-thirds of a company's
gross earnings, contribute to Italys high unemployment (pg.2). Furthermore, a statistic from
Bloomberg Business estimated that nearly 45% Italys youth were unemployed (Bird, pg.1). In
turn many are turning to off the book jobs, such as small cash jobs, in order to bypass taxes and
make a living. A large portion of Italians work in off the book jobs and this underground job

market contributes to the 20% of Italys GDP which is fueled by underground markets. Italy is
not the only country in this situation. A documentary produced by the media company Vox
(titled: Why Cab drivers earn more than Doctors) shows how Cuba is in a similar situation as
Italy. Citizens of the communist country rely on off the book jobs in order to make a living. From
bootlegging movies to scalping tickets, Cubans require the extra income in order to survive in an
economy where paltry wages our handed out by the government. The average doctor in Cuba
makes around 800$, nowhere near enough money to live. With the addition of income through
the underground job market and individual can actually support themselves. The underground
economy in Cuba also stimulates progress in the third world country. Because public jobs pay
regardless the quality of the work done, most work is done haphazardly. However, in order to
make money in Cubas underground economy something actually has to be sold. The goods have
to be polished and desirable. The best examples of this are Cuban restaurants. Most public
restaurants to serve only one thing: Ham sandwiches. However, in the underground economy
food is at a different level because in order to make money, food has to be sold. In order for this
to happen the food has to be good. Thus, in Cuba, underground markets dont simply encourage
economic growth, they promote true progress.
Unfortunately, the economic growth due to underground markets can come out of something
darker. This is particularly true in Afghanistan, an economy where the drug trade is ever present.
The third world country is considered to be one of the poorest countries in Asia. According to
The Borgen Project, a national campaign that aims to relive global poverty, Afghanistan is the
second poorest country in Asia, with 36% of the people living underneath the poverty line
(Kline, pg.1). The frame work for the countrys economy is due to one thing: Opium.
Afghanistan is centered on opium more than anything else. Data from the World Bank and UN
show that .3% percent of the land in Afghanistan is used to produce opium (United Nations
Office on Drug and Crime, pg.6). There are more provinces that grow opium in Afghanistan than
those that are free of opium production. Afghanistan dominates the opium market and is the
largest Opium producer in the world. A UN survey done in 2007 determined that 93% of the
Opium produced in the world was produced in Afghanistan (United Nations Office on Drugs and
Crime, pg.5). The same survey cited Opium as making up 13% of Afghanistans GDP. However,
do the economic boosts overcome the drawbacks? According to an article published by USA,
today more than 60% of Afghanis are frequent Opium users, most of whom are addicts (Qazi,
pg.1). Citizens within the country spend a large portion of their money on Opium. But as the
terrible as the drawbacks seem they are actually outweighed by the benefits. Opium production is
especially high in Afghanistan because for the more than 24 million farmers in Afghanistan
(about 80% of the population according to The New York Times) there is nothing as profitable as
Opium (Freyer, pg.1). Other crops such as wheat just do not grow well and sell for much less. A
quote from NPR wrote that farmers that grow Opium can make about $9,000 a year, which is
four times what they can make from any other crop,(Carberry, pg.1) Without Opium, there
would be no source of money for millions of Afghanis.

Underground markets may also benefit devolved countries such as the United States. A
considerable part of the United States economy is due to illegal fire arm sales. According to a
report written by David Gagne for the non-profit organization InSight Crime, 2000 illegal
weapons cross the US-Mexico border per day (pg.1). That comes out to 730,000 illegal guns a
year. This number also does not include guns that are sold illegally overseas; another
underground market that is also quite large. But what is the impact of this on the economy? In
the article The Way of the Gun: Estimating Firearms Traffic Across the U.S.-Mexico Border by
Topher McDougal, McDougal estimates that the United States makes on average $127.2 million
(and up to $214.6 million) from illegal gun sales with Mexico alone (pg.2). While this number is
not as significant to the United States GDP as Opium is to Afghanistans, the revenue is certainly
important to individual gun shop owners. McDougal states that the profit margin on gun sales in
the US is quite low. He believes that if the underground market for illegal guns gets smaller than
demand for guns will also decrease. This in turn would also lower profit margins for gun shop
owners and ultimately lower income. Many gun shop owners are already having a difficult time
earning money however with the illegal gun trade it would be a great deal harder.
Underground markets are shown to clearly strengthen a countries economy. There are multitudes
of underground markets around the world, each market affect each country in a different way.
And while they are off the radar, they certainly play an important role in most countries
economy. The question of whether there is social progress because of underground economies
can be debated upon. However, it is clear that without the drug trade almost 80% of Afghanis
would be unemployed with no source of income. Most Cubans would be unable to make enough
money though there government subsidized professions. The majority of Italians would be
without a job and the country would still be in a recession. Certainly underground markets have
a positive impact.

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WILLIAM ULBRICHT. 39. United States Magistrate Judge Southern District of New York.
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