[AntiGuv]

Do drug dealers and sex workers count amongst the self-employed?

[ARCADIA]

The household survey indicates that self-employment has grown by 626,000 jobs since the recession end.

Buffalo chips.

This fudge puts then entire report to lie. they revised the numbers and elimitated virtually all of these bogus job gains for the year back in May, and we will see them do it again next year.

[marktwain]

It is possible that people who work in government forbidden jobs would answer the survey as such, but it seems unlikely.

The fact that more people are self employed seems like a very good thing. More independent people, less reliance on large organizations, more clamoring for freedom.

A very good thing that Democrats definitely hate and try to minimize.

[tbpiper]

Do drug dealers and sex workers count amongst the self-employed? In Holland and France.

[SSN558]

Do drug dealers and sex workers count amongst the self-employed?

absolutely. ...and so do former manufacturing workers that now sell fruits and vegatables on street corners. Everyone knows self employed mechanics, construction workers, others trades people and professionals. They also operate cottage industries and sell at flea markets, much the way the former USSR underground economy use to work. They operate without lisenses and pay little or no taxes.

Technically they are law breakers. Practically, they have no other choice to survive since the new service economy does not pay a living wage for all but the most agressive exploiters.

The size of the underground economy is rarely mentioned is the U.S. media. This is not so in the enocomic analysis that appear in foreign journals, and they estimate that it is 10% of GDP in the United States.

[LS]

No, but masseurs, physical therapists, pharmacy owners, health-care consultants, nail people (of whom there are thousands, making a damn fine living) and beauticians ("hair stylists") all do. I can drive down one of my main streets and see no fewer than four major self-owned nail salons, five or six hair salons, one dog groomer, one gun shop, three florists, dozens of financial planners and tax specialists, several psychologists, about a half-dozen doctors or dentists, a guy who owns a "Dragon-ball Z" and baseball card store (and makes a damn fine living), several paint stores, a new Mexican restaurant started by legal immigrants who have parlayed ONE strip mall restaurant into FOUR larger restaurants in less than 10 years (!). And on and on, but you really don't want to hear these stories.