Yes, that is right folks...prostitution is being added into the Greek GDP.
Read on...
Prostitutes, smugglers a boost Greek economy
POSTED: 1527 GMT (2327 HKT), September 27, 2006ATHENS, Greece (Reuters) -- Prostitutes and smugglers will give the Greek economy an unexpected boost as their illicit activities will now be counted in the country's official economic output, a senior official said on Wednesday.Under pressure from the European Union to cut its deficits, Greece is revising its gross domestic product to include part of the booming black economy, boosting its output by at least 10 percent in 2006, the country's chief statistician told Reuters."The revised GDP will include some money from illegal activities, such as money from cigarette and drinks smuggling, prostitution and money laundering," National Statistics Service chief Manolis Kontopyrakis said in an interview.Greece's economic output was 180 billion euros ($228 billion) in 2005 and is estimated at 194 billion euros this year, while the black economy is estimated at about 40-60 billion euros a year.
Copyright 2006 Reuters. All rights reserved.
Do you think this is a good idea? Should illegal activies be counted as legitimate production? What does this article indicate about the reliability of GDP as a measurement of economic activity in an economy....and if Greece goes there, how long before the rest of Europe?
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1 comment:
There is a saying about "lies, damn lies and then there are statistics". Greece is just manipulating their statistics to accomplish other goals, mainly boosting their GDP so they can stay within EU deficit limits. It is pretty smart actually, what will be interesting to see is if other countries move the do the same thing when they near those 3% of GDP deficit caps imposed by the EU. Only time will tell!
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