The Illegal Sector, Money Laundering and the Legal Economy: A Macroeconomic Analysis

This paper presents a macroeconomic framework useful to the analysis of the relationships between the illegal sector, money laundering and the legal economy from a human as well as a financial viewpoint. Economists have not yet systematically studied the interactions between illegal sectors, money‐laundering activities and the legal market. This study is part of a larger area of research which takes a particular interest in the economic analysis of money laundering. In previous years this author has developed a microeconomic analysis of the money‐laundering mechanisms and of the related regulations; this is a deeper examination of the macro consequences.