The Business of Drug Dealing in Milwaukee

Poor people in Milwaukee have responded to the loss of "good jobs" by starting thousands of new, mainly off-thebooks businesses. The most profitable business in this informal sector of our economy, unfortunately, is the business of drug selling. This report describes the entrepreneurial method of distribution of drugs in two central city communities, called "Horatiotown" and "Algerville." It contrasts those inner city methods with how drugs are sold to white youths and in suburbia. Comparatively, drug sales to white youth and in the suburbs are less open, not neighborhood-based, employ fewer people, and receive less attention from law enforcement. Other informal businesses in the inner city are described, including off-the-books car repair and house-painting, child care and hair-cutting, street vending, and sales of questionable goods. (abstract from the article)

Publication Date: 
1998