Useless Services

Photo by Vadim Akhmetov / Znak.com
Photo by Vadim Akhmetov / Znak.com

The production of what goods and services accounts for the largest share of Russia’s gross domestic product (GDP)? That is a simple economic question. Amateurs would be wrong as usual in claiming that the right answer to this question is oil and gas. In the modern market economy – and in the last 20 years, Russia has been classified as a market economy unlike, for example, North Korea – the largest share of GDP is attributed to various services. Banking and transportation services, healthcare and education, lawyers and auditors, Internet and cell phone services together account for 55 percent of Russia’s GDP. Just for comparison, in the United States, the same services account for as much as 80 percent of the country’s GDP. The rule is simple: The more developed a country is and the higher the living standards of its population are, the larger the share of the service sector in its economy is.

Legal and auditing services without which private business cannot exist or develop occupy a special place in the variety of services. Businessmen use the results of independent legal analysis and audit to reduce risks and avoid losses. Read More “Useless Services”