Britain, Italy include drugs and sex in GDP
By Melvin Backman @CNNMoney May 30, 2014: 9:29 AM ET
Plenty of money is spent on illegal drugs and prostitution. The United Kingdom and Italy are now calculating how much.
The U.K.'s Office of National Statistics announced Thursday that paying for drugs and sex adds about £10 billion ($16.7 billion) a year to the economy. The British government is now including prostitution and narcotics sales in its official Gross Domestic Product (GDP) statistic. That's the oft-cited measure of how much a country's economy grows or contracts.
Ninemsn - Italy to include drug and prostitution money in GDP calculations.
ITALY’S statistics agency says estimated revenues from drug trafficking and the sex trade will be used to calculate gross domestic product (GDP) starting next year in a move expected to boost its economic results.
The Istat agency said the calculation would also include revenues from contraband tobacco and alcohol, adding that the procedure would be “very difficult for the obvious reason that these illegal activities are not reported”.
“The concept of what is illegal activity is also open to different interpretations,” Istat said on Thursday in a statement explaining the new method of calculation in accordance with new European Union rules.
Is this a healthy system?
By Melvin Backman @CNNMoney May 30, 2014: 9:29 AM ET
Plenty of money is spent on illegal drugs and prostitution. The United Kingdom and Italy are now calculating how much.
The U.K.'s Office of National Statistics announced Thursday that paying for drugs and sex adds about £10 billion ($16.7 billion) a year to the economy. The British government is now including prostitution and narcotics sales in its official Gross Domestic Product (GDP) statistic. That's the oft-cited measure of how much a country's economy grows or contracts.
Ninemsn - Italy to include drug and prostitution money in GDP calculations.
ITALY’S statistics agency says estimated revenues from drug trafficking and the sex trade will be used to calculate gross domestic product (GDP) starting next year in a move expected to boost its economic results.
The Istat agency said the calculation would also include revenues from contraband tobacco and alcohol, adding that the procedure would be “very difficult for the obvious reason that these illegal activities are not reported”.
“The concept of what is illegal activity is also open to different interpretations,” Istat said on Thursday in a statement explaining the new method of calculation in accordance with new European Union rules.
Is this a healthy system?
Comment