Stealth of Nations: The Global Rise of the Informal Economy

• Thousands of Africans head to China each year to buy cell phones, auto parts, and other products that they will import to their home countries through a clandestine global back channel.

• Hundreds of Paraguayan merchants smuggle computers, electronics, and clothing across the border to Brazil.

• Scores of laid-off San Franciscans, working without any licenses, use Twitter to sell home-cooked foods.

• Dozens of major multinationals sell products through unregistered kiosks and street ven...