Sunday, December 9, 2012

Under the Table

"Do you need a receipt for that?"

This brief question is an integral part of economic life everywhere, though more prevalent in some countries and some settings than in others.

We have come across or heard about two particular sectors of business in our neck of the woods, where participants cut corners.

One sector is firewood. We live in the German state that has the highest percentage of woodlands of any state in the country. Hint: it is not Bavaria.

Much of the forest is held by small farmers who cut firewood for themselves and sell some on the side. Their transactions are resolutely cash only. They charge a little less than full-time dealers, so you could think that the unemployed and the poor would beat down their doors.

That does not happen because the really poor get heating fuel subsidies, and the agency responsible wants three up-front estimates and will not give out cash.

Another sector of activity, much bigger than the firewood market, is the car inspection business, and here are a couple of stories.

This woman shows up at an inspection station with a car whose gear shifter is broken. It won't shift from 3rd to 4th without coming lose at the bottom.
The woman's name happens to match the name of a well known local politician.
She drives away with a brand-new two-year inspection cerificate for an unsafe vehicle.

Then there is the friendly guy attached to a repair shop. If you know him or someone who knows him well, you drop off your papers, not the car, in the morning and pick them up in the evening.
He will even provide smog certificates. The values come from other vehicles at the shop or, if need be, from the service manual.

As far as I know, he is not greedy and does only a handful of these side jobs a month.

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