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THE FINANCE MINISTER says that ‘accurately measuring illicit activities is difficult’.
Ireland is measuring drugs and prostitution for its next set of quarterly GDP figures due at the end of this month.
The Central Statistics Office will include the figures as part of an EU-wide strategy to make national accounts more comparable.
Last month, the UK statistics office calculated that illegal drugs and prostitution provided a £10 billion boost to the UK economy.
Speaking about how these figures are calculated, Minister Noonan said:
“Statisticians use any available data that can produce a repeatable estimate for these activities over time.
The illegal nature of these activities makes it particularly difficult to estimate their level and value.
“Consequently, the estimation methods used can only be expected to deliver approximations of the actual levels and value of activity.
Data are obtained from a range of sources, including the Gardaí and organisations involved in the welfare of prostitutes or drug addicts.
“International research in these matters is also being reviewed by the CSO.”
Austria, Estonia, Finland, Norway, Slovenia and Sweden have all begun including these figures as part of their GDP.
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Well this adds some weight to the view that GDP is a terrible indicator of well being.
Has it ever?
Does this mean that the IDA will be opening an office in Colombia to attract inward investment? Maybe Enterprise Ireland will be setting up a hooker task force.
A Cannabis regulatory office would certainly help, industry is worth billions in America yet it costs us millions in enforcement
Hooker task force … Any jobs going ?
An entirely new avenue of work experiences for job-bridge interns perhaps?
Drug dealers and prostitutes should pay tax too.
Niall I am sure if it was legal for drugs and hooked they would pay tax,
The EU interfering again in countries affairs to make them essentially ‘cook their books’. They would know a thing or two about that having not signed off their accounts for the last 20 years. This is wreckless in most cases.
Isn’t the national contribution to the EU (currently 65% of its €128bn budget) based in GNI (which is based on GDP – a figure which is hugely distorted here). But then again our debt/GDP ratio will improve.
Of course its difficult, who admits to participating in illegal activity even if they are promised that anonymity is kept. One thing that makes little sense is the idea that all these illegal activities are benefiting the economy when they are untaxed. If we regulate the likes of cannabis we will actually see the economic benefit along with the social and health benefits.
Currently we see none of that
Things only benefit the economy if we tax them?
No but goods and services are. Do you disagree with The principle of taxation?
That depends what you mean by the principle of taxation. We have a government which seems to think that anything untaxable is a challenge to its authority.
If grandparents look after children while both parents go out to work, that benefits the economy. (Whether it benefits society is a more complicated question.) But the grandparents’ work adds nothing to GDP and isn’t taxable, whereas if the parents paid a child minder, it would do both. Which is better?
A tax should never lower the living standard of any part of society nor should it infringe on human rights, the constitution or international law. Cannabis should be taxed
The yanks started this ‘war on drugs’ nonsense years ago and everyone had to kowtow.
GDP is a measure of economic activity and does not pass moral judgements. Unless we provide some kind of measurement of all activity we run the risk of underestimating things like money supply, a key leading indicator of inflation, for example. Measuring the economic impact of criminal activity in neither good nor bad, it just is.
Economists such as John Gwartney and Vito Tanzi have published research that puts the optimal level of total taxation to maximise economic growth at between 15% to 25% of national income. Current tax take in Ireland is twice this optimal level. If their research is correct economic growth, in Ireland, is impaired, unemployment levels are artificially high and standards of living are avoidably lower than necessary.
“On taxation, our system defies rational explanation. After an aborted attempt in the 1980s and 90s to levy a tax on residential property, such was the power of the land owning lobby in Ireland that the tax was dropped (and by a Labour Finance Minister no less). We have no tax on site or land value – i.e. no tax on the unproductive activity of land ownership. At the same time, we now have a marginal tax rate on income adding up to 52% – this is an improvement on the nadir point in the 1970s when this rate rose to 77%. Nonetheless, how is it rational to tax something that you are trying to encourage? ”
GDP-Gangs Drugs Prostitution.
You would imagine he would have some idea ,he and his mate,s have been riding the public for the last few year,s
Financial gain from corrupt government practices should be factored in as well, I’d think.
Based on the overvaluation of cannabis seizures we should all be feeling richer
Seizures cost money and not regulating a good means no financial gain for the state but a large policing bill, or at least inadequate use of police time.
And surely those seizures mean they are removing capital? After all, they just destroy the stuff..
Measuring them is one thing but it will inflate the egos, sorry I mean GDP artificially making the economy look better than it is and gives the EU more of a reason not to help the Irish people. If they are to be measured legalise and tax. This will give a true reflection of GDP not inflated ego!
Spain has done this recently and our GDP has increased by 4.5%. All hail our ever-improving economies.
So, remember, next time you are caught by the Gardai for availing of ‘escort services’ or with a couple of pounds of suspicious-looking white powder in your jacket, remind them that you are just doing your civic duty towards the Irish economy.
Spot on Emilio :-D
He knows how much at least one person spent over their last year. *Cough cough*
Suppose it should come as no surprise, we are dependent on crime to boost our finances due to the banksters debts.
They should included bribes to politicians and other public officials, some serious economic activity there.
Another clear sign of the eu project panicking.
This is ridiculous! Drug & prostitution markets are not new industries, quite the opposite in fact, so the economic activity associated with these industries has been present for centuries. But now they’re including pre-existing economic activity as effectively brand new revenue streams within the economy in an effort to make economies appear stronger when in fact no change of any note has occurred.
This is like the FAS course & job bridge efforts to manipulate jobless figures to make the economy appear stronger. They are just economic parlour tricks. Do the civil servants who come up with this rubbish think market makers & institutional investors are idiots? Tip lads, the market big boys have been running rings round ye for years, your attempts to pull the wool over their eyes will be met with little beyond amusement. The sad thing is we actually pay these morons to make us look foolish.
It shows the absolute desperation of the EU. Manipulate the figures using whatever means available
Watch this space for all the great news associated with the results of this cac.
200 per hour + 21% vat and would you like a vat receipt sir
She’d be done for tax evasion . It’s 23% since noonan said ‘its only 2%’
If prostitution were to be legalised we’d have some of the best hookers in the world.
Prostitution and illicit drugs are significant economic activities and should be included GDP measurements.
No, they should be legalised, adequate protection given to the workers and consumers and… TAXED. TAXED TAXED.
I am not opposed to their tax and regulation but they should be included in GDP calculations regardless of their legality.
We should include slavery too
Don’t worry, prostitution covers that.
Jesus they are really scraping the bottom of the barrel to bolster up the figures. They forgot to add the illegal fags.
nothing like having a spliff and blasting a hooker.
Is he hinting at legalising prostitution?
Let me get this straight.. Before now drugs and prostitution weren’t important to an economy, now they are. What kind of bumbling morons are actually running the show? What’s next? Child porn?
With the amount o junkies in this country.that will mean billions for the exchequer
Maybe if they take stock of all that lovely tax revenue they are throwing away they might cop on and start regulating it..
It’s easy to measure, wasn’t it floating in a river recently?
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