Since the late 1980s, the concept of the informal economy has increasingly occupied the attention not only of social scientists, but also of politicians, policymakers and, not the least, journalists. Despite this focus on the phenomenon, or perhaps just because of it, the general concept of what it is still remains vague and uncertain. This chapter is going to discuss some of these ambivalences, relevant not only to the conceptualisation of the phenomenon, but also th the related policy practis. I am going to open this discussion by presenting controversies about the definition of the informal economy, the tendency to disregard the unity of the economic system by dividing it into several separate economies, and preconceived ideas about who operates in the informal economy and who does not. Then, I am going to present and alternative view of these issues, which will include informal economic actors that conventional research in this field has had trouble comprehending as participants. These are big businesses and the state. Finally, I shall present an empirical case of informalisation of the Swedish taxi industry, which illustrates not only how the state can be involved in the informal economy, but also how complex is the political/policy engagement with the problem.