Italy has an unusual new plan to help boost its stagnant economy. This year, the country will include prostitution and illegal drug sales in the gross domestic product calculation.
Because WHY THE FUCK NOT, says Prime Minister Matteo Renzi who is struggling to meet deficit targets. Via Bloomberg:
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.
“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.
It’s like my grandmother used to say: “Nothing boosts an economy like hookers and blow.” We don’t talk about her that much in my family.
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