How to crush the black market?

[Ordivus]

My nation is a Democracy. Political Freedom is extremely high, Civil Rights is in between moderate and high, and economy is high. But with all this relaxing democracy there’s a problem…the black market. Now the size of my black market dwarfs in comparison to that of others. Now my black market has been unsteadily rising and I feel all it would take is one good hit to make them come crashing down. Or knock them down a few pegs at least.

IMPORTANT NOTE: I do not want to have to become more authoritarian or much more controlling. A bit of policing I can handle. I’ve promised my citizens as much freedom and rights as they want (as long as it’s not too ridiculous or too anarchic) if they only ask (and get passed of course) and I have fulfilled that promise. And I fully intend to keep fulfilling that promise.

I appreciate any and all help I can get. Thank you.

[HISPIDA]

don't ban things and when you get issues to unban things then unban them

[Ordivus]

don't ban things and when you get issues to unban things then unban them

Ahh..so I can actually become more Democratic from this. Got it. I already legalized Marijuana for recreational drug use.

[Dexterra]

Economic freedom is a big factor in my experience. Supplementing it with boosts to welfare and education help, and if you're not a fan of that, boosting law enforcement does the same but can reduce civil rights if you're not careful

[Fauzjhia]

corruption is one of the most important factors for black factors for black market.
lower corruption, and black market will not be very important at all.

[Outer Sparta]

corruption is one of the most important factors for black factors for black market.
lower corruption, and black market will not be very important at all.

Here is one of my puppet nations that I've managed to basically nuke the entire black market to oblivion: https://www.nationstates.net/nation=the ... _of_athens

Basically I just did law enforcement and tried to lower corruption even though my puppet is ranked in the top 5% in the world for corruption.

[Kors]

Some really no-no policies can increase the black market extremely quickly. My nation Enzonar has a high black market in spite of having high law enforcement, due to having very not-nice policies like Slavery, Geronticide, Prohibition, Body integrity, State press, No dissent and No gambling. Steer away from those policies.
Lowering civil rights without increasing law enforcement also increases black market. It also has correlations with weaponization, crime, corruption, general economic output, that kind of stuff.

[Steelfeather Rapture 1]

There's something wrong with how this game presents the black market. Check this out:

Before:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yig-JT ... sp=sharing

After:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1myWXMf ... sp=sharing

These show Steelfeather Rapture 2, another nation of mine, going from 8.8 billion in black market activity, to 10.3 million in black market activity, same-day. 23 of November, one result to the next.