Transcript
  • 00:00    |    
    Initial credits
  • 00:06    |    
    Introduction by Robert Neuwirth
  • Informal economic exclusion and the role of government
  • 04:57    |    
    Presentation to the audience
    • Who are you?
    • Do you have a particular political viewpoint?
  • 06:28    |    
    Question and answer period
    • Have you identified a pattern that produces informal activity?
    • Example of Nigeria
    • How do people organize to share the profits?
    • Do people pay for government authorization?
    • How do you identify informal economy?
    • How important is creativity?
    • Is this solution better for them?
    • Does the government earn any profit?
    • Why government doesn't tax it?
    • Is the government interested that firms get formalized?
    • Based on your experience, what is your perception of Guatemala´s economy?
    • What is the relationship between poverty and the informal sector?
    • Is capitalism the informal economy?
    • What is the benefit of getting formalized?
    • How does government improve tax collection?
    • How are private properties protected?
    • What other countries have you been able to study?
    • Where do you encounter more organized informal people?
    • What is the rate of informal economy in countries like Norway or Switzerland?
    • Could the informal economy in Guatemala produce a developed country?
    • How do pushcart vendors move to formal merchandisers?
    • What perspective of the future does the informal vendors have?
    • How long it takes to a business formalize?
    • Do we have to informalize the formal?
  • 01:12:01    |    
    Final credits


The Global Rise of the Informal Economy

As a journalist Robert Neuwirth decided to explore the "favelas" in countries like Brazil, Turkey, Kenya, India, Nigeria and China. The global statistics showed that 50 percent of the non-agriculture workers are working off the books, in the informal economy. His goal was to understand the informal sector by living close to them. Most of his work centers around issues of informal economic exclusion and the role of government on this. During his talk, the participants had the opportunity to ask questions regarding his knowledge of the informal sector. Some of the topics discussed were the characteristics of the informal sector and the impact that government actions have in this sector.




Conferencista

Robert Neuwirth is an American journalist and author of the books…