« Split-Screen | Main | Isolation » Corruption26 Sep 2007 01:52 pm Via Spencer Ackerman, the new world corruption rankings. Haiti has surged from most-corrupt down to a respectable fourth-most-corrupt. Iraq is in third-from-last place, ahead of Burma and Somalia (this must be the good news the MSM is trying to hide from you). As usual, the Nordics are squeaky clean with Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Iceland, and Norway all in the top ten. The US is basically more corrupt than a northern European country, but less corrupt than a southern European one. Comments (29)
Too bad we don't rate states and cities. I can't imagine that Louisiana is less corrupt than any European country this side of the Balkans. Nor, as a Chicagoan, would I describe the Earldom of Daley as particularly squeaky clean. 
I would say the average Scandinavian is less suspicious of "big government" due to the relative lack of corruption compared to, say, the U.S.. Hence, it seems American progressives would do well to stress the importance of honesty and transparency in government -- even in those cases where Democratic "special interest" groups might be harmed in the short term...
The US is basically more corrupt than a northern European country, but less corrupt than a southern European one. It's known as the dago effect. I'm sure I read that somewhere...
Also, not a single country in the top 10 has even a tenth of the US population. Moreover, looking at the list, it seems that the best recipe for political transparency is high population density (so everyone's in a small geographic area; for instance, Canada is huge, but only inhabited in a fairly narrow strip close to the US border) and robust economy. The US is far less dense, with multiple centers of population, so that works in favor greater graft.
As usual, the Nordics are squeaky clean Lutefisk just scares all the corrupt politicos away! * Hence, it seems American progressives would do well to stress the importance of honesty and transparency in government -- even in those cases where Democratic "special interest" groups might be harmed in the short term... - Marcu$ Indeed. In fact, given that much of this corruption involves Democratic politicians in blue islands in red-state-land, it's really bad PR for us Democrats. How can people trust Dems. when the nearest Dem. politicos are all hopelessly corrupt? I've been saying for some time now we Dems. seriously need to clean house if we want to effect a political realignment.
Greg, That's one of the most transparently weak arguments I've heard in awhile. Did you even look at the list? Just among the top 11, you'll find Finland, New Zealand, Sweden, Iceland, Canada and Australia. Even discounting (for the reasons you stated) Canada and Australia, Finland, Norway and Iceland are the three *least* densely populated countries in Europe; and Norway also happens to be one of the least urbanized. Keep to "small" and (at least until recently) "homogeneous" and you just might be on to something.
We've overtaken Belgium and France is in our sights! I was amused to see that Italy and Malaysia are next to each other. For obvious reasons, I have an interest in Italy, and I made three or four trips to Malaysia in the mid-80's on a case and have followed developments there (to the extent that lousy US press coverage permits) ever since.
The US is far less dense Well, we're pretty dense.
Not all corruption involves bags of cash or garbagemen driving Rolls Royces. When the FederalReserve seeks to profit from illegal activity, isn't that an example of corruption? When the Bush admin fights to allow banks to profit from indirect illegal activity, isn't that another example? And, when the Dems oppose the enforcement of our laws in order to maintain their political power, isn't that another example? And, when the MSM refuses to investigate those issues, isn't that another example? If the issue of illegal immigration were factored into the equation, we'd probably fall several places on the list. MattY can now go back to ignoring that side of things.
Do all the Taibbi-reported contractor shenanigans go down as Iraqi or US corruption?
Who cares about "corruption per capita"? It's the overall effect of that corruption on the world that matters. And by that standard, the US, Russia, and Israel are THE three most corrupt countries on earth. Pakistan and North Korea are in there, too, but have much less effect than the first three because it is more localized. If Pakistan and North Korea weren't exporting nuclear technology, they'd be irrelevant as well. It's not clear to me where China fits yet, but I'm sure they'll step up in time.
There are a lot of things wrong about Israel, but how is corruption, even under TLB's extended definition (which I whole-heartedly support), one of them? Oh yes ... Israel's full of cosmopolitan, er, Zionists with their hooked noses, bags of money and scheming ... er ...
Norway- While I plead ignorance on your homeland, a simple search produces the fact that at over a fifth of Finland's population lives in the Greater Helsinki area. Meanwhile Turku, Oulu, and Tampere combined have something between a tenth and fifth of Finland's population. Compare this to the largest state, by far, in the US, California, which, even so, contains only 32 or 33 million people. A state that is very very far away from the other main population centers in the US. My point was not that the Nordic countries were densely populated. Quite the opposite, since population density is a mean that is skewed by large empty spaces like Iceland's interior, or say, Lappland. Rather, I meant that the population is heavily concentrated in relatively few geographic areas, and hence in those few areas, possessing a high density. However, I'll certainly take your word on Norway, because I've not been there for years and my education is far more concentrated in Western, rather than Northern, Europe. None of the Nordic countries have anything like the sprawl seen in the US, and that was what I was getting at.
Greg, I take your point, but if you run a statistical analysis on that I strongly doubt that you'll find a correlation. Looking at the list, it seems obvious that cultural factors are the most important ones; Nordic countries score near the top (whether densely populated Denmark or sparsely populated Norway) and the same things goes for the Anglo Saxon countries - whether it's the UK or Australia. Generally, when looking at that list, it strikes me that countries are roughly as rich as they deserve to be.
Spain is down as more corrupt than the USA. The difference is that in Spain it's bent local government dishing out building permits and million-dollar contracts to cronies. In the USA it's the President and his Cabinet officers dishing out wars and billion-dollar contracts to cronies. The impact in Spain is a wrecked coastline. The impact in the USA is a million dead Iraqis.
No one's yet mentioned that this index measures "perception" of corruption, rather than corruption itself. Surely that's a difference worth noting.
No one's yet mentioned that this index measures "perception" of corruption, rather than corruption itself. Surely that's a difference worth noting. Yeah, I think that's one reason to take the study's findings with a grain of salt. The basic global distribution looks right (poor, authoritarian nations tend to be the most corrupt and rich, democratic ones the least). But the rankings among the advanced democracies may be more a reflection of the quality of their media and political culture than the true level of corruption. Perhaps the relatively poor rank of the U.S. simply means that it's better at exposing corruption than its European counterparts.
DAS, Curiously, much of Israeli corruption is actually caused by goyim mobsters-- for the same reason there are now Neo-Nazis in Israel. Because Russians who prove (or perhaps forge proof of) Jewish ancestry can freely immigrate to Israel, a lot of Russian who aren't what anyone would call a mensch have taken up the offer. Some of those Russians have only tenuous Jewish ties (say, a single Jewish grandparent) and some don't have any at all. Regardless of their actual religion, the flood of Russians has led to to the Russian mafia turning Israel into their own version of Battista Cuba. I would have said Sicily but I don't want to get on Italy's bad side: "JERUSALEM – Italy has voiced offence after the head of an Israeli commission of inquiry into suspected police corruption warned that his country was going the way of Sicily, the legendary heartland of the Mafia."
Re: When the FederalReserve seeks to profit from illegal activity, isn't that an example of corruption? If we're going to bring up indirect corruption then Switzerland will probably take the prize, given all the bilge that gets laundered through its famously opaque banking system with Bern looking the other way in wide-eyed innoence.
My God, Jonf! Where did all this Impressionistic art come from? And all these jewelry from 1939 to 1945? Fairies must've brought it during the night. I have to do the Heimlich coughing on an account number.
Not only does Israel have a massive Russian Mafia influence now, it also has utterly corrupt leaders. Just about all of them have been investigated at one point or another for corruption, rape, Heaven knows what else. Meanwhile, an Israeli company was caught selling CALEA wiretap data to Los Angeles drug dealers. Other Israelis have been kicked out of Australia for various reasons. Israelis have been caught dealing in nuclear technology to banned nations. No big surprise. The very definition of Zionism is corruption, in some sense. Intellectual corruption leads to actual corruption. And there is no one more corrupt intellectually than a Zionist - except maybe a Catholic (the fundamentalist religion followers are just brain dead, not corrupt per se.)
What strike me most is how (relatively) highly Zimbabwe scores, i.e. not as corrupt as it "should be", given the major indicators. The fact that there is fairly little corruptly exploitable surplus (~= mineral wealth or hardwoods) probably explains that partway, but then look at Tonga, which appears to have some unique attributes (per capita mass of the ruling elite, perhaps). Seems a bit odd. Steep geographic wealth gradients (which aren't as steep near Zimbabwe as e.g. Haiti) may be another part of the explanation.
No big surprise. The very definition of Zionism is corruption Troll alert
> Looking at the list, it seems obvious that
Has anyone done a survey on corruption in various American states and cities, by the way? I know the inner cities (Marion Barry...) have a bad reputation but my impression is the white conservative rural South (Tom DeLay etc.) isn't exactly squaky clean either. MARCU$
Did someone else noticed the very different confidence ranges between the US, France (ranked one ahead) and Belgium (one behind)? I am too lazy to check deep into the report if there is any rationale explanation, but I find it quite weird.
DRR - Zionist thug alert.
Well, Hack, DRR does have a point. Ben Gurion was pretty incorruptable. So was Meir. That Israel is moving away from the old quasi-socialist ideal has a lot to do with the new immigrants who have only a nominal relation to the country's founding culture (ie. most of the former Soviets).
Re: Not only does Israel have a massive Russian Mafia influence now, it also has utterly corrupt leaders. Something similar can be said about Japan, except that its mafia (the Yakuza) is homegrown and even older La Cosa Nostra. Up until the crash of the 90s it was even semi-tolerated, with its tendrils wrapped about Japanese indsutry and politics.
Comments closed October 10, 2007. |
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Heads in the Sand
Number NINE?? I feel dirty. Must be all that damn oil. Oh well, I suppose we'll just have to get back into that union with Denmark.
Posted by Norway | September 26, 2007 2:23 PM