Definition of Black Market

Black is a term that is often associated with others for the purpose of forming specific concepts. Thus, we talk about black humor, the black sheep, the black plague, the black list or the black market. Generally, the adjective black serves to qualify something negatively. This is because the color black has an important symbolic load in our culture.

The concept of black market refers to the economic activity what is at margin of the law. In other words, there is a black market because there is another market that is legal. An economic activity is legal when it meets a series of requirements (payment of taxes, licenses, permits and a long list of conditions and requirements). In this way, when an activity is not legal, we can refer to it in several ways: Commerce illegal, piracy, clandestine sale and others. The black market concept is used as a synonym for economy submerged, that is, an economic activity that is not governed by the same rules and criteria as legal activity.

The impact of the black market on the economy

The black market can exist in relation to any type of productive or commercial activity (of the industry textile, from the sale of weapons, jewelry, tobacco, alcohol, in relation to currency exchange ...). From the point of view of consumer who buys a product or service on the black market, has the advantage of paying a lower price than the official one (a A very common example is the one related to alcohol, which is usually expensive in the legal market and cheaper in the economy submerged).

Despite this apparent advantage, the black market entails a whole series of disadvantages: the consumer does not have any warranty of the product or service you consume, the state stops collecting taxes and there is an increase in criminal activity. All these consequences end up having a negative impact on the economy of a country as a whole.

Fighting the black market

If we talk about the black market, we must remember that this type of activity is part of the crime organized and that it is a global phenomenon. It is not easy to end the complex network of any illegal commercial activity, since on many occasions the black market feeds many people who have no other alternative. On the other hand, the mafias that operate on any black market are very powerful and the police means to combat them are not always sufficient.

Photos: iStock - Petmal / Anne-Louise Quarfoth