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Hookers And Blow: How Changing The Definition Of GDP Officially Jumped The Shark
A year ago it was the US which first "boosted" America's GDP by $500 billion - literally out of thin air - when it arbitrarily decided to include "intangibles" to the components that 'make up' GDP (in the process cutting over 5% from the US Debt/GDP ratio). Then Spain joined the fray. Then Greece. Then the UK. Then Nigeria, which showed those deveoped Keynesian basket cases how it is really done, when it doubled the size of its GDP overnight when it decided to change the base year of its GDP calculations. Now it is Italy's turn, and like everything else Italy does, this latest "revision" of the definition of GDP easily wins in the style points category. As Bloomberg reports, "Italy will include prostitution and illegal drug sales in the gross domestic product calculation this year." Yup: blow and hookers. And that, ladies and gents, how it's done.
Alas for Keynesian economists everywhere, since this "adjustment" largely shows that what one includes in GDP is now absolutely meaningless and for lack of a better word, a joke, it also means that the core concept of economic growth measurement has now officially jumped the shark.
But at least one will get a laugh out of the Italian GDP line items for hookers and blow. Bloomberg has the full story:
Drugs, prostitution and smuggling will be part of GDP as of 2014 and prior-year figures will be adjusted to reflect the change in methodology, the Istat national statistics office said today. The revision was made to comply with European Union rules, it said.
Renzi, 39, is committed to narrowing Italy’s deficit to 2.6 percent of GDP this year, a task that’s easier if output is boosted by portions of the underground economy that previously went uncounted. Four recessions in the last 13 years left Italy’s GDP at 1.56 trillion euros ($2.13 trillion) last year, 2 percent lower than in 2001 after adjusting for inflation.
The punchline:
“Even if the impact is hard to quantify, it’s obvious it will have a positive impact on GDP,” said Giuseppe Di Taranto, economist and professor of financial history at Rome’s Luiss University. “Therefore Renzi will have a greater margin this year to spend” without breaching the deficit limit, he said.
And that's what it is all about: literally making numbers up allowing the government to spend even more money it doesn't have on ridiculous political schemes, kickbacks, crony deals and corruption, and then when the people start to riot, blaming it all on "austerity."
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golf clap for Italy. Well played.
Adds new meaning to the term GDP deflator.
finally a metric i can get behinde
Political graft and bribes should be entered into the GDP calculation as well. The debt/GDP ratio would certainly drop to near zero.
oddio!
Out of those five babes in the picture, I like the blonde in the middle! ;-)
Looney
Hey it's Dan Bilzerian's house!
"...those five babes"
really?
Did you miss the highlighted one with a bottle in each hand?
i post this unrelated thing up here so that more of yall will see it: I turned ghostery off because it wouldnt let picture windows load on a site i was shopping on, and came over here without remembering to turn it back on, and it loaded 43 fucking trackers and cookies. it used to be like 25. what the fuck tyler? i know a lot of you guys use ghostery, turn it off and click on the 'home' just once, see what all ghostery finds. this 'fight the power' site has more bullshit tracking and making money from people like google than literally any other sight i have come across.
This is a pro free market capitalist website operated by ABC Inc, so why does it surprise you?
I use Ghostery (Mac) and there's "only" 12 trackers on this page.
I'm using googlicous chrome at work and running the ghost man. There are only eleven listed entities for me.
Netherlands already included drug trade into their GDP in February.
2,4 billion euro to be precise.
Ook worden 'illegale activiteiten' als drugshandel, prostitutie, gokken, illegaal kopiëren en smokkel meegeteld in de omvang van onze economie. Van de 45 miljard die de economie in 2010 groter was dan in de oude berekeningen, is 2,4 miljard euro afkomstig uit illegale activiteiten.
http://www.volkskrant.nl/vk/nl/2686/Binnenland/article/detail/3608526/2014/03/06/Nieuwe-rekenmethode-doet-BBP-met-45-miljard-euro-stijgen.dhtml
Which, of course, raise the question. If my wife does me, am I guilty of tax evasion?
LOL!
Homefucking kills GDP.
What should I do when the IRS/FDIC show up wanting a bail-in?
Not sure what this article is all about so I had to search for more details.
http://your-daily-girl.com/2011/04/jennifer-thompson-in-zoo-magazine/
My doctor told me one time "the three most overrated things in America are homecooking, homefucking and the Mayo Clinic".
That's a big if.
You got that backwards, if you do her, she's evading the taxes.
The amazing thing is, this kind of GDP-manipulation has no negative impact anymore on the country's debt and on it's stock markets anymore. It seems as the only thing that matters anymore, is the music that is playing.
This can not end well.
What is PUTIN's oppinion on that? He may be a beacon of hope for the true freedom loving people that oppose americanism and the western decadence, but he is also a personal friend of Silvio Berlusconi aka Bunga Bunga.
That's a dude!
Dude, how do you know that bear-bitch is a dude, Dude? ;-)
Looney
Because it's Ted.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bH2brZ_4mLw
Having seen the raunchy movie... :)
Not only is it a dude, but a bear no less. However, I do not see any twinks, twunks, or otters.
I'd take the Asian in blue...
I don't do dudes.
Yep
I am a rice king too
Hot girls. Damn, kinda wish I'd win the lottery soon.
All the way to the right, it's all pink inside
No chance Looney, the blond in the middle is reserved exclusively for the bear wrestler.
How to purify your Cocaine.
http://www.drugs-forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=27089&highlight=junk+c...
How to purify your Hooker.
???
I use turpentine on all my hoes.
Only deal in the high end markets. Anything under $200 is too cheap.
Got hit on by a gorgeous black hooker in Las Vegas for $100. Took her back to room. She's around 20, I'm 50 then. When she told me that $100 was the Senior Discount I got offended and threw her out. But I had made a contract I could not fulfill so I still paid her.
Graft, bribes, hookers and blow. It's where the QE money ultimately goes so it should show up in their calculations.
Why not? Our economy could use (another) boost!
All That CTRL-P has to go somewhere...
And not to forget money laundering.
lobbyist contributions ....
And Participation Rate
it's natural to include all mafia activities !
will all participants get medical coverage?
Is "ponzi" Italian?
My eyes, My eyes, My eyes !!!! Ahhhhhhh!!!!
Damn picture sucked me into the article looking for a larger picture. When will i learn?
If you use Chrome, right click on picture -> search google for this image.
http://www.sportylife.gr/sites/default/files/images/jenny-thompson-10-sp...
I'm turned off by the fact there is so much champagne left in her bottle.
Every TITillating element is covered by something. It's Mormon Porn.
Thumbs Up for the opening pic
among other things
Thumbs? OK.,,,,,,,,,, To each his own
Uggh!
I hate you now.
Prostitution and drugs are two areas that flourish as economies tank and people become desperate. I look forward to CNBS headlines that gloss over negative GDP by playing up the growth sectors of whoring and crack-peddling. Pimps and dealers can be interviewed for their expert opinions.
They already are, it's called CNBC.
I wanna see Jim Cramer call black market syringes and used mattresses "screaming buys."
"Buy buy buy! Know what I'm sayin?"
I want the financial markets to include derivatives based on black market syringes and used mattresses. Now, that is something I would put some money in it. Why not? What is the difference between a T-Note and a used mattress?
Playa: Look Becky, ho's be in such demand I's gon' hasta hire me a subodinate, you know what I sayin'?
Becky: Thank you, Playa. Now we get Warren Buffet's take on this phenomenon.
If pimpin' was easy everyone be doin' it.
Pimping, unlike prostitution, is illegal in Italy. Interestingly, their law considers it a rape if a client fails to pay the hooker.
Its really easy! Just order a few russian/ukrainian brides and take them to honeymoon to some goat-fucker muslim country and trade them for 20 camel each. Then go to camel market and trade the camels to equal amount of mercedes bentz's
It's a problem in Cuba. The prostitutes get first crack at foreign exchange money which has put them on top of the economic ladder. Not sure what it all really means in the big picture.
Last night my wife came skittering into my mancave saying there were multiple flashlights in the front window and I needed to go check it out like right fucking now. (yeah, she speaks like that.)
It's about 9:30 so, I'm a bit of a facebook (ZH) crank who doesn't hesitate to say that Pelosi should be shot at any opportunity, or that we've become a nation of facists with a new-age gestapo happy to shoot first. I'm an NSA Registered Asshole.
I go outside. There are two empty cop cars in our driveway blocking all means of exit, with the motors running. Three more in our yard, and another three in the neighbor to the left's yard, another six are across the street.
Neighbors to the left are kinda assholes but I don't mind because I am too, but they don't realize their assholiness. (Some day we're going to be great friends.) They're outside their house in a panic wondering what is going on. I go out and see all the cop cars and go back to tell my wife that there's a thousand cops in front of our house.
We both go out and down our driveway and the neighbor lady asks my wife if she's ok. My wife still hasn't seen all the cop cars and she's had 35 years of my bullshit....so she just yells back that yep everythings fine.
Then she sees all the cars. "What the FUCK did you post on facebook THIS TIME you stupid motherfucker!"
(I was still trying to figure that one out myself)
She stomps back into the house. I decide to get a flashlight to see if there was a cop in any of the cars to ask what the hell was going on. Coming back out, I shine it at the first car on the right in the driveway (one I had peered into to see if anyone was in it) and an Explorer Scout popped out to ask me to shut the light off because there was a tactical operation underway.
I shut it off, and the house lights, and watch.
Turns out, the cops made an assault on the drug dealer two houses to the right. They came to my house by mistake. The flashlights my wife saw were when the cops realized they were at the wrong address.
Where I sit I have a .45 with four ten round clips of fragible rounds, .357 revolver with seven quickloaders, and pump 12 gauge with five rounds of double ought, all are loaded. If they had kicked in MY fuckin door I would not be here to type this, nor would have three or five of the first officers coming into my house.
To me it sounds you are ready for the great show. You can continue being an asshole, at least you can back up your arguments. Me? Can't afford to be a asshole to cops since I don't have one single gun (this is Europe...where we will be culled and shot without resistance).
You are lucky to be alive!
Desperate...whaddayamean desperate. Someday a book on the secret world of men will be written. Until then we just all go along ,smiling emptily , and just kinda agree to all the shit that´s being pandered by all the non-men of different genders. They don´t have a clue. Not a fucking clue.
Funny thing is it's more tangible than is the US's latest stunt including intellectual property and vaporware generators.
Either way the lesson here is that you should have a bordello in every city, require licensing and apply a tax
You cannot tax pussy ,you know why , you did not make that , God did and if he wanted to add tax he would off.
God taxed Adam 1 rib for Eve. There's no getting around paying.
I'll be damned; that "Blonde with the gold boots is a dead ringer for an old girl friend of mine; but that was thirty years ago. Everything was thirty years ago, now.
If you like your prostitute, you can keep...
AHH, la dolce vita
Outstanding. It just gets crazier and crazier. I need more popcorn .
Go long Dildos
I imagine the hookers fall under the Service Economy and illegal drugs will be classified as Pharmacuticals? Must have some semblence of order to the deck chair arrangement.
Got my Obamaphone and looking forward to Obamablow coming soon...wait a minute, maybe need a new name for that...
They conferred with Bill Clinton and Obama first before they did this.
the new normal isn't very normal.
think again. The Fable of the Bees (1705)
As Bruce Cockburn taught us, "The Trouble With Normal is it Always Gets Worse."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kybkiiAKMOY
Wet your pizzoli, sinori? Ees good for GDPa.
bananas and blow and hookers, bitchez
USA national anthem (with lyrics)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PK7xF1RGCQY
https://imgflip.com/i/90ioj
Stimulating.
I've seen that movie Ted 3 times and it still cracks me up :)
PS: Italy just wants to do what Spain is already doing for over a year now. They also already include hookers and dope and that stopped the GDP from dropping further.
But what they forget is that going to hookers now ihas become TAX DEDUCTABLE FOR COMPANIES!!! AND HOOKER CAN ALSO CLAIM UNEMPLOYMENT BENIFITS!!!
What a world we life in :)
If really want to tell my gratitude to all those fathers who did a pisspoor job playing a rolemodel for those fine woman...
Won't they have to file and pay backtaxes first?
Besides, if GDP is supposed to measure the total economy, it should include everything, right?
+1000.
You are in fine form today, Sudden Debt!
Don't forget the Eurocrats in Brussels and Paris who did a piss poor job of creating a world they could have actually survived in.
The Ministry of Truth does NOT approve this message!
but the Minister of Reality does!
can still nod approval, even with the ball gag...
Those economists should include the 'production' of hot air that every US politician blows out of their mouths. It's impossible to quantify, but they already just make up numbers.
Think about it. Anytime there's weak economic data, the GDP will skyrocket.
Clearly we're dealing with geniuses.
Getting you up like your GDP!
Finally some stasi starts thinking outside or inside the box...whatever
Favorite Ted line... . , ' I'm a little fucked up right now ,,, "
Amazing how two enterprises that are 'barely' taxed and 'barely' regulated are doing so well...
bunga bunGDPa!
Yeah, our class is the biggest spender in this sector.
Soon to add murder-for-hire.
Nationalizing the mafia could boost GDP !!
FUCKING PIGS!!!!!!!
Redboys and Chardonnay! Mutton and Mead! Opium and Warm Orange Juice!
Opium and Warm Orange Juice ? that's very interesting. At one time in my life, I used to mix my spoonful of Opium in room temp. Tang, ( the space spin off orange powder ); and drink my breakfast. Worked alright for me; but it's possible I'm not normal.
Bill Clinton has studied this form of economics.
not to mention thin lizzy and the stones.
Pussy Riot-Punk Prayer.mp4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALS92big4TY
i hate to be racis' about it but the russian
music scene needs a whole lot more "felling"
in their popular, or unpopular, music.
that from mho and amerikan perspective.
.
the scales, they need some different scales.
but then it wouldn't be russian. maybe they
will incorporate some old chinese scales into
their popular tunes?
.
Kim Richey - Cant Find the Words
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1yUvr7kSyU
wait till the vatican hears about this.
second thought, they originated capitalizing
the confessional, no? the good thing is you
can roll and fold it all into the phrase
"our way of life", in a manner of public speech,
and people will listen and the defer to the
television set.
Minor point, but, as the title of the article states, it's 'Hookers and Blow', not 'Blow and Hookers'. Otherwise, good for Italy in upping the bullshit ante.
garlic-banana republic
http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1518089/italian-journalist-sa...
Note to myself:
In addition, a range of other companies with varying back-
grounds are involved in project development. These include Re-
newable Energy Systems (UK), part of the Sir Robert McAlpine
engineering and construction group and Airtricity (Ireland),
which started off selling green energy in the Irish market. RES
has built wind farms in the UK, in Ireland through its coop-
eration with B9 Energy and in France through its subsidiary
Eole-RES. More recently it has been involved in developing and
constructing some of the largest projects in the United States,
particularly in Texas. Airtricity started its wind farm develop-
ment in Ireland but has since moved across the sea to Scotland
and is now one of the most active developers in the US. Earlier
this year, the company announced its involvement in a con-
sortium planning to build up to 4,200 MW of wind capacity in
the Texas Panhandle. In Europe, Airtricity has also committed
investment to large offshore wind farms in the Netherlands and
Germany. An example of the increasing involvement of general
investment companies in the wind business was the recent
takeover of long-standing Italian developer IVPC (Italian Vento
Power Corporation) by Irish investors Trinerg
http://www.ewea.org/fileadmin/ewea_documents/documents/publications/WD/2007_march/WD0703-focus.pdf
GL Garrad Hassan has been the technical consultant to
the Italian developer, IVPC,
since it supported the project
finance of its very first wind farm portfolio back in 1998.
Since this initial project, IVPC
has developed, constructed
and currently maintains wind farms across Southern Italy,
Sicily and Sardinia with a total capacity of 1040 MW
- approximately 20% of the current total Italian wind
capacity.
Experts from GL Garrad Hassan have provided technical
support for all 56 wind farms, working on behalf of
multiple lenders to the projects by providing a range of
services including energy yield assessments, technical due
diligence reviews for project financing and construction
and operation monitoring.
http://www.gl-garradhassan.com/assets/downloads/GL_Garrad_Hassan_Onshore_Wind_Services.pdf
http://www.gl-garradhassan.com/assets/technical/GL_GH_-_Reference_Work-ENGLISH-email-%28secured%29-Jul11.pdf
Garrad Hassan Canada-
http://canweaforum.ca/system/resources/BAhbBlsHOgZmSSI7MjAxMy8wMy8yOC8xNS8xNi8wOC8yNTgvQXR0ZW5kZWVMaXN0X01hcmNoXzI4XzIwMTMucGRmBjoGRVQ/AttendeeList%20-%20March%2028,%202013.pdf
Worldwide Offices - GL Garrad Hassan
www.gl-garradhassan.com/en/WorldwideOffices.php - United Kingdom
40+ items – As the world's largest independent renewable energy ...
Garrad Hassan Pacific Pty Limited Suite 25, Level 8 401 Docklands Drive ...
GL Garrad Hassan Canada Inc. 4100 Rue Molson Suite 100. Montreal QC H1Y ...
HASSAN CHOP!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lo-VFP9jyYc
Must read paper.
Clean or "Dirty" Energy;
Evidence on a Renewable Energy Resource Curse
http://www.lse.ac.uk/GranthamInstitute/events/Past/2012/February/clean-d...
----------
Mafia laundering via wind on risehttp://renews.biz/45548/mafia-laundering-via-wind-on-rise/
The mafia and other organised crime groups are increasingly targeting clean energy schemes such as wind farms as a way of laundering their dirty cash, according to a Europol report.
The EU law enforcement agency’s Threat Assessment on Italian Organised Crime study says the proceeds of criminal activity are increasingly being run through the legal business structures that renewables projects provide.
It also stresses that green schemes “offer attractive opportunities to benefit from generous EU grant and tax subsidies”, meaning the criminals are “effectively exploiting eco-friendly incentives for their financial gain”.
Italian police seized assets worth €1.3bn from a Sicilian renewable energy developer in April this year, in what was reported as the largest ever seizure of assets linked to organised crime.
The Europol document is available here.
Image: wind schemes offer attractive incentives as well as legal business structures (sxc.hu)
But do not forget that "money laundering" is a made up crime for the benefit of the criminals of government and their bankster masters.
Or put another way: "There is no such thing as the crime of "money laundering."
As Cognitive Dissonance said/says, "Control the language and you control the mind. The body soon follows."
+ 1
In .gov's eyes, "money laundering" is any money they do not know about and so cannot tax.
inflation is gonna be a bitch...
“Even if the impact is hard to quantify, it’s obvious it will have a positive impact on GDP,” said Giuseppe Di Taranto, economist and professor of financial history at Rome’s Luiss University.
Nadler! Good seeing you around!
Hope losing the kitco gig didn't hurt your feelings too much...
Senor Dochen, always a pleasure to be greeted by such a gentleman. Nobody talks to me anymore, am avoided like the plague. Am basically selling hot dogs in Toronto right now to pay the rent. Even that Carbone chick at KITCO doesn't say hi to me anymore, ME! the Great Jon NAdler and all because of that barbarous relic! I just hope i don't run into AKAK at my hotdog stand. Where's AKAK by the way
akak pulled out of ZH, alas. One of the greats.
kitco is going downhill. Carbone doesn't even wear revealing clothes anymore. WHAT is the world coming to?
yes but Bloomberg and BW do not have that cool graphic for storyline like ZH
Cocaine Sales to Boost Italian GDP in Boon for Budget http://bloom.bg/1oWZPU8 via @BloombergNews
Cocaine Sales to Boost Italian GDP in Boon for Renzi’s Budget http://www.businessweek.com/news/2014-05-22/cocaine-sales-to-boost-itali... via @BW
Some bears have all the luck
Actually, who gives a fuck anymore? There doesn't appear to be any negative consequence associated with all this lying and creating and spending pretend money. It seems everyone's doing it, so it must more or less balance out. Granted, the super wealthy and the welfare classes are the primary beneficiaries, but so what - the super rich are so incomprehensibly super rich now that eyen they probably don't notice the increments - I mean, what the fuck can a person do with 10 Billion that they can't do with 1 Billion? And sure the welfare class gets their free shit, but it's not like its that luxurious a lifestyle, so fuck it, who cares? And I know, I know, the debt's the taxpayer obligation, but it's not like anybody's ever going to PAY it - I mean even bondholders understand that they're only price speculators, and they all have too much skin in the game and benefit too much from its continuation to bust it up - better just to try and one-up the rest of the liars. Honestly, fuck it all.
When will people who do productive work walk away from the counterfeit and only exchange their efforts for the efforts of others by the means of a mutually agreed upon unit of measure like gold or silver?
Never? Why bother? The fake money works just fine, as long as you're getting your fair share? The entire global financial system has gone from being generally corrupt to completely corrupt and insolvent, and yet it hasn't made a damn bit of difference. Apparently nobody gives a fuck about 'mutually agreed upon units of measure'. Apparently 'lying and creating the money we need to buy shit as the need comes about' is an acceptable mode of business FOR THE ENTIRE FUCKING WORLD!.
I can't understand how it works, but apparently it does, apparently all the lying and cheating just cancels out. So maybe the .01% now live forever, and you see their hovercars passing over as they head to the teleportation station for their visit to some alien brothel in another galaxy on the other side of the universe, because they've discovered the secret to eternal life and faster-than-light travel but haven't shared with the rest of us? Big fucking deal.
BTW I'm serious about the 'live forever' comment. I think those fucks have figured it out - you notice how old some of those guys are getting? But no slowing down, what the fuck, Prince Phillip must be 150 by now.
Its true man. Absolutely nobody gives a shit about the reality of the situation and the insanity that is being instilled everyhweres. We have adopted a "whatever it fucking takes" atitude with little to no regard for consequences. And this is why when the reset comes - and lets be clear - it will come - it will be swift, violent, and punishing. Until then.......hookers and blow.
Kissinger must be on his third liver by now.
never had a heart so the doctors never had to bother with that part.
With abottle of Chianti?
You arent too far off. I think they believe that they will reincarnate into the same family, thereby keeping their wealth infinately. Also im sure its not hard to keep their motors running when they dont have to stress about pesky things like compassion or non agression.
"don't notice the increments"
i recently read an article that basketball star lebron james no longer bothers to take even dollar bills as change. i imagine his owners haven't seen a dollar bill in decades.
When my Mom makes me dinner or does my laundry, it should be included in GDP.
Parenting should be valued at at least $25,000 per year per child. That should add quite a bit more room for borrowing.
On-line help sites for parenting add hedonic value to that!!! At least double - maybe triple.
Craig
I have it pegged at half a million, soup to nuts, if it doesn't duplicate and leaves after 25 years... Which is why I'm not doing it.
When I service myself does that have a negative consequence for the GDP because I'm not using a hooker?
No, it's ok. A hooker would be better, but you're still adding to the GDP, as long as you move some money. Just have 2 bank accounts and move a few hundred from one account to the other every time you jerk off and you're doing your bit.
Good point.
And people who can blow themselves should be highly prized by the government for they could get the economy going again as long as they're not taxed. Special economic zones for tax free self-blowjobs anyone?
Ahh, so that's why some guys take yoga... I had always thought it was just a ploy to meet women.
Depends. Do you pay yourself under the table?
could have omitted everything in this article after the headline, and i would have still clicked on it... cuz this guy loves hookers and blow. most of my discretionary spending goes into this category, which is why it doesn't show up in US GDP. i soon expect the BLS to make up for that deficiency.
Please! Someone stop the world. I want to get off.
Are we here at ZH the ONLY sane people left in the world?
Only a small subset of the ZH visitors are sane, so it's worse than you think.
There's stil pockets of sane people offline and at a few other forums.
Well, OK, but do we really want to go there? I'm not sure I would feel welcome at thos other places...
Sorry, you must stay on the ride until it comes to a complete stop.
Actually, I feel more insane knowing what I know. At least the sheeple get some form of bliss before the SHTF.
Italy is a special case. When 40% of GDP comes from organised crime, you really don't have a lot of choice but to declare it. Shopping for Italian labels supports organised crime in a way that buying a bag of weed could never hope to.
Institutionalised criminality, we should be so surprised.