The Plague of Institutionalized Corruption
“The administration of justice is the firmest pillar of government.” George Washington
Corruption, institutionalized corruption in particular, has been a plague on societies for, well, since societies began to develop, I’d imagine. And while it almost surely exists in every country today, its scope and scale, and whether or not authorities publicly discredit and have the means and motivation to actively try and stop it, varies greatly between nations. And that makes a big difference in terms of how pervasive and damaging corruption’s effects are on the often fragile fabric that holds together the just functioning of any given society.
Just how sizable corruption has been, in monetary terms, during the recent past is being revealed to a greater extent than ever before by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime and World Bank’s Stolen Asset Recovery initiative. Intended to assist developing countries recover assets stolen by corrupt leaders and deposited in foreign, often Western, banks.Read More
