[cookie_monsta]

Somewhat unrelated, but when I first moved to Latin America I had a job that consisted of taking enormous, empty suitcases to Miami and spending a week buying to order at the clothing outlets and end of season clearance sales. The upper class Latinos who ordered the clothes obviously paid a premium (and wouldn't be caught dead in the very convincing counterfeits that were available in the local street markets) as the whole operation paid my expenses and "wage" and made it worthwhile for the guy who I worked for.

Later I freelanced, doing basically the same thing with laptops although I would limit myself to 5 per trip just in case the customs guys got curious (they never got curious).

The global economy is really screwy, particularly with import taxes factored into the equation. I still have friends who will buy insurance write-off cars in the US online, drive them south (often with an undriveable one in tow), fix them up (so that they are salable but not strictly roadworthy) and still manage to make a living.

Then there was the whole thing about Mexican gasoline (which is state subsidised) getting smuggled over the border and sold by roadside vendors by the gallon.

It really is the purest expression of the "free market" - any tiny arbitrage leads to a clandestine industry springing up. For a while there was a boom in smuggled fresh eggs.