Where there are any permissions, there are prohibitions, and prohibitions always cause a desire to get around them. One of the integral parts of the economy is the black market. What it is, whether it has any advantages for the country and individual citizens, and how participants in such trade are punished will be analyzed in this article.
What is the black market and how is it formed
When restrictions arise or a strict ban on trade in any product, there are always people who want to receive it.
There is a demand - there is a supply, that is how the black market is born. People who can get the desired product, offer it in other different ways and get profit for it. It should be noted
that trading in black is much more profitable than legally, both for the seller and for the buyer. Firstly, the seller himself sets the price, not paying attention to antitrust laws and rules dictated by the market. If this is a special product, then it may not have competition, and therefore, prices are set simply cosmic. For the buyer, transactions on the black market are advantageous, because the price of the goods excludes the payment of taxes and state fees, which somewhat reduces the cost. Secondly, on the black market, you can get anything you want that can be prohibited by the laws of the state or society, from drugs to human organs.
Who controls the black market
In addition to the participants, the organizers are the driving forces of the black market. Typically, goods for sale on the black market are interconnected with smuggling - where else, for example, do weapons or drugs come from? It is easy to guess what organized crime controls the black market.
The very
act of transferring rights to the goods takes place through very complex links between buyers and intermediaries or sellers, and this is not surprising, since all participants in illegal operations become targets of prosecution by controlling state bodies.
What you can buy on the black market
In addition to absolutely harmless types of goods prohibited by the state for one reason or another, people and ammunition can be purchased on the black market. Examples of such markets:
1. Alcohol. Despite the fact that “flammable liquid” is authorized for sale in most countries, for residents of those places where prohibition is in force
, alcohol is available only in black markets. Today these are Muslim states where even the storage of alcohol is a reason for detention.
2. The black market for weapons. According to official figures, the legal sale of weapons far exceeds the turnover of its and ammunition on the black market. Nevertheless, such a market has been operating since the eighties of the last century.
3. Trade in stolen antiques and works of art. It occurs mainly through online auctions and is closely monitored by regulatory authorities in order to bring to trial both the seller and the potential buyer.
4. Rare species of reptiles, birds and animals, sale of contraband black and red caviar. In addition to the fact that these crimes are immoral, participants in such trafficking can go to jail for a period of 3 years.
5. Selling people - the slave trade. One of the most serious crimes that exist. Some countries provide for the death penalty for the slave trade.
6. Prostitution, sale of sexual services.
7. Sale of erotic materials, porn products where prohibited.
8. Sale of human organs for operations (cloning). Most often, donors are completely ordinary people and children who become objects of abduction.
9. Selling fake documentation. It is prosecuted by law in any country; the term of imprisonment is from 3 years.
10. Sale of narcotic substances. The law punishes not only sellers, but also buyers.
11. Sale of software for hacking computer programs.
How was the sale on the black market in Soviet times
If the turnover is illegal, the purchase and sale operations are carried out in a slightly different way, rather than the usual, familiar to buyers. In the days of the Soviet Union, when the ban included not only alcohol, but even ordinary jeans and other imported products, the “black market” was so widespread that people even developed persistent expressions that denote illegal trade: “get it on a pull”, “buy from under the floor ”,“ to trade from the back door ”,“ to get out from under the counter ”.
This was no coincidence, as flaunting in fashionable things, buying good equipment, books, and foreign sound recordings could only be clandestine, through acquaintances, in rented apartments and through dummies, because speculation was prosecuted and punished by imprisonment.
In addition, the profession of a “farmer”, that is, a speculator with imported things (a “company”), was also widespread. It should be noted that they traded not only genuine goods from abroad, but also self-made consumer goods in the so-called “workshops” in order to make a profit.
How is illegal trade today?
Criminally punished trade in illegal products today is carried out in completely different ways than before, although the essence has not changed. Where does the black market function and how can smuggled goods be found?
The most popular way is to use the web. Forums, chats, communities on a topic of interest - everywhere there are just curious people, as well as people related to illegal business. In addition, auctions are often held where stolen works of art can be purchased. You only need to know which resource to go to.
Once a potential buyer and seller of smuggling find each other, they can meet in neutral territory, usually with the participation of an intermediary, and make a deal.