Come on...I think we all know where the money is coming from. It's from all those new export business springing up everywhere in The DR...this is why the economy is growing like crazy.:cheeky:
I think only bozos would render such an idea to support all major biz to be supported by drug dealers/cash in the DR...
Are you really such limited to think that a multi-billion biz like IKEA takes drug money into consideration, when they invest millions to open a super sized shop like the one in SD??? I guess 9 out of 10 shoppers that attended the Ikea grand opening were dealers or cash bloated launders then (according to your "point")???
I know you'll find this hard to swallow (given your ideals about Dominican society), but not so long ago you had TO PAY to have biz take US dollars as payment over pesos in the DR... A professional had a great take home paycheck with a way above quality of lifestyle than US workers!!!
When the peso devaluated the upper middle class became millionaires, as their biz raked-in larger than life earnings as a result. The lower middle class broke into a real set alone middle class and poor one, delegating before poor to destitute that lost their platform to jump ahead to better higher standings.
Now we have a huge middle class with an even larger upper class and very small rich segment, which is shadowed by at least a 35% destitute sector.
The main ingredients which point towards development from a neo-capitalistic free-for-all base. I order for development to continue to grow, there must be an over abundance of cheap labor and steady demand for goods as well. The DR as of now meets both segments to a "t"...
To be more exacting: Rich people don't buy formica of compressed woods no matter how "chic" they look. Ikea did the studies very well in the DR ahead of time... The segment of the market they aim for is boundless and continues to grow each year in the DR...
Something that many here hardly ever see will start to happen soon enough as well: Big biz buying smaller ones to cover the national territory and market! We lack strong anti-monopoly regulation in the DR and many large biz are starting to notice the potential, with which to monopolize the lucrative market the DR is today...
If the DR is in fact a narco-economy, by default the US is the narco-Empire!!! Followed by all major developed first world countries/economies in the line...
It's easier to hide/launder money in the US than in the DR!! Fools think that they can invest in the DR and enjoy their loot alike! We KNOW where the cash comes in from and ALLOW them to invest it here! As soon as they turn into "profit" mode we send the hounds and smoke them out of the country...
The biggest mafia, gangs and rackets built the city of New York as we know it today. The same plays out for most major economic metropolis around the known world. That drug/dirty money is invested in the DR is a given (like anywhere else is), thing is that in the DR the cash gets put in, but hardly makes it out of the country with the same ease...
Japan is perhaps the largest economy (in importance) after the US, but something I know first hand is that so too is corruption and dirty money as important as well there...
Expats still have a hard time understanding how we Dominicans buy our biz, cars and home cash on hand, unlike how they like to buy on credit... A biz paid cash is able to ride the ups and downs of the economy; a biz that needs to keep up paying for itself can't be as flexible and nimble as well... Nor will having to keep paying a car loan/home mortgage help a person down the road too...
While the average American owns a credit debt of 10,000 to 20,000 a year, a Dominican hardly keeps a balance that can't be paid in 3 to 6 months at worst.
That's why you see these types of Malls going up and projects down the line for the DR. It's not based on serving drug dealers or launderers, but regular Joses that want goods and service for their money.