#robert neuwirth

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Igbo Apprenticeship System Is World’s Largest Business Incubator Platform – Robert Neuwirth

Igbo Apprenticeship System Is World’s Largest Business Incubator Platform – Robert Neuwirth

“Robert Neuwirth, an American journalist, author, and investigative reporter who gave a TED talk on age-old sharing economies of Africa, talked about the Igbo apprenticeship system.” (more…)

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[sofialeonova-blog]

5 | Shadow Markets of the World

“If all the world’s informal markets were formed into a single independent nation, its $10 trillion economy would be the second-largest on the planet (behind only the US)” - Wired.com

Grey markets, also known as parallel markets, involve the trade of commodities through legal yet unofficial, unauthorized distribution channels. According to journalist Robert Neuwirth and his book Stealth of Nations: The Global Rise of the Informal Economy, small, off-the-books, and grey market businesses combined account for trillions of dollars in commerce and fully employ half of all the workers in the world. This number is estimated to rise to two-thirds by 2020.

While these markets exist everywhere, according to Neuwirth, they thrive in places where “taxes are low, poverty is high, and resources are scarce.” The map below indicates the size of each country’s shadow economy, as a percentage of its GDP.

(Source: Friedrich Schneider et al., “New Estimates for the Shadow Economies All Over the World,” International Economic Journal, 2010)

Many grey markets exist in the form of small kiosks, street stalls, little informal markets or peer-to-peer sales, however even multinational companies such as Procter & Gamble sell many of their products through unofficial channels in the developing world in order to reach customers in squatter communities.

In the developed world grey markets often constitute reselling your old college books, bringing home to Europe an Apple Macbook from the U.S., or giving away a designer dress you bought in Australia. Chances are, we’ve all contributed to the grey market. For a number of years now I only use face powder from a brand only obtainable in Thailand and somehow I always find a way to never run out. Many times I bought products from a different country simply for a lower price and therefore higher value. Since I moved to Amsterdam from Prague, I bring back things I can’t buy here. But even large Western companies operate within the grey market - retailers such as Costco and Ebay in the U.S. sell goods manufactured and sold abroad at cheaper prices.

Neuwirth points out that grey markets are a critical source of entrepreneurism, and unlike the rest of the economy, during the global recession they have grown tremendously, providing many with jobs and improving lives. Whether they are ethical or unethical, embraced or opposed, they drive innovation, they most certainly matter to the world economy, and in one form or another, they are here to stay.   

[sugarcain88]

Cities and Squatters Moving Forward

I just listened to a TED Radio Hour Podcast called The Future of Cities.  I put the podcast's short description below.  The podcast was fascinating and has led me to two new books to read on the topic of squatters, a highly relevant issue in the Philippines.

"For centuries, cities have been bringing people together.  Now, for the first time in history, more than half the world's poulation lives in cities.  What draws people to them?  What changes when we live closer together?  How can cities offer humanity its best hope for a sustainable future?  TED speakers Stewart Brand, Robert Neuwirth, Ellen Dunham-Jones, and Geoffrey West investigate the future of our urban zones."

"The answer to crime is figuring out how to empower people so that they don't have to turn to crime."

Neuwirth points out that not all is bad for these squatter communities, as one individual in Nairobi said "once you've lived here once you can live here forever."  There are strong and powerful human bonds within the squatter communities.  However, the number of people living as squatters in the world is expected to rise to one in four.  That's a staggering global number and "there's no such thing as a squatter utopia."  I am a volunteer here in Bacolod, and these issues directly relate to the community development work that I team up with other organizations and individuals to address, an issue already felt throughout the Philippines.

"There's no such thing as a squatter utopia."

That's why I am excited I listened to this podcast and why I am excited to read Neuwirth's two books; Shadow Cities: A Billion Squatters, a New Urban World and Stealth of Nations: The Global Rise of Informal Economy.  I hope to learn more about the issue and how to address the urban squatter communities in terms of development.

  Check out Neuwirth's blog - Squattercity

[sarahwardrope]

[anartecture]

I like System D. It has a more playful lilt than informal economy. At the same time, it asserts an important truth: the informal is a system. It is not simply haphazard and cacophonous. It is a product of intelligence and self-organization and there are rules of conduct—for instance the market association in Oshodi run by Fatal Agbalaya is empowered to adjudicate disputes between rival merchants and between buyers and sellers.The problem is, if I call the informal System D, will anyone understand me?

Robert Neuwirth, Open City: Designing Coexistence

[thoughtyoushouldseethis-blog]

We are looking at the economy like we look at dill pickles... We’re all focused on the economy of luxury.

Writer Robert Neuwirth was at TEDGlobal to outline his thesis of "System D," the informal economy that employs 1.8 billion people, is worth $10 trillion/year--and is the opposite of an economy which works painstakingly to try and remove imperfections (rogue dill pickles) from the system. He does acknowledge that there's already a pretty extensive coterie of people and companies who are focused on tapping into other parts of the economy ("reverse innovation" springs to mind) developing economies, but this is an interesting and unusual look at a truly informal undocumented part of the system. He shares some great examples from large corporate players such as P&G, UAC Foods and Nigerian SIM card seller, MTM. Well worth a read: this is a topic that's only going to grow in both importance and prominence.

[dbloom]

What's the Afterword

On my long perambulations exercising the Wild Pomeranian and myself, I've turned to a near-antediluvian source of entertainment as I tramp around the back corners of North Hollywood: the audio podcast. The latest discovery: The Afterword, a new addition to Slate's vast stable of podcasts, focused on non-fiction books, i.e., mental crack for me.

Host June Thomas, possessed of a plummy Brit accent and Terry Gross-worthy interviewing instincts, shows good form in her talk with Robert Neuwirth on his fascinating look at the world's off-the-books economy, "The Stealth of Nations."

Neuwirth doesn't want to call this vast non-licensed/-taxed/-regulated universe the informal economy, because it tends to capture all the black-market and illegal activities that aren't the focus of his concern. Instead, he's interested in the street vendors and similar entrepreneurs selling legal goods on the edges of the economy. He has great stories from countries such as Paraguay, Nigeria and Pakistan.

Very nice stuff here, both the podcast/interview and Neuwirth's book are most promising.  You can find the podcast here: