The economy of New York would get a huge boost if the bean counters included drugs and prostitution, as the United Kingdom has decided to do.
Britain’s gross national product will get a $15 billion bump — $4.5 billion from hookers and $10.5 billion from drugs — when the illicit activity is included later this year by the Office for National Statistics.
European Union statisticians feel the UK is short-changed in comparison to say, Holland, where marijuana and red-light districts are legal.
Plus, economists want to know how much money is spent in the black market so that spending matches the more easily quantified earnings.
“It is expected that illegal employment, gambling, pirating of software and fencing of stolen goods will eventually also be included,” the BBC reports.
For New York, we should add the billions made in cigarette smuggling and Medicaid fraud.
The numbers will show we are wealthier — and more felonious — than we knew.