I've found it useful to divide not into just white/black markets, but into five areas: white, black, gray, red and pink.
From http://www.nostate.com/3441/black-markets-vs-free-markets/ :
Black market as commonly understood is a problematic term, since it encompasses both harmless things that governments ban (the cannabis trade, for instance) in most places, as well as harmful things that governments also ban (murder for hire, for example).
I personally favor the market analysis given by agorist theory, which breaks down things along two axes:
Visual illustration on slide 7 of a powerpoint I made for a presentation to a libertarian meeting this summer at http://www.nostate.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/What-Sort-of-Libertarian-Are-You1.ppt (reproduced for readers of this blog below).
From http://www.nostate.com/3441/black-markets-vs-free-markets/ :
Black market as commonly understood is a problematic term, since it encompasses both harmless things that governments ban (the cannabis trade, for instance) in most places, as well as harmful things that governments also ban (murder for hire, for example).
I personally favor the market analysis given by agorist theory, which breaks down things along two axes:
- White market: State-approved, moral (i.e. non-rights-violating) (e.g. on-the-books employment)
- Gray market: Banned unless done in state-approved manner, moral (e.g. off-the-books trade)
- Black market: State ban, moral (e.g. drugs)
- Red market: State ban, immoral (e.g. murder for hire)
- Pink market: State-approved (and largely state-conducted), immoral (e.g. taxation, conscription, compulsory education)
Visual illustration on slide 7 of a powerpoint I made for a presentation to a libertarian meeting this summer at http://www.nostate.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/What-Sort-of-Libertarian-Are-You1.ppt (reproduced for readers of this blog below).