Cost of Corruption

Today I heard a radio documentry titled the Cost of Corruption. I found this to be fascinating. I have been thinking about corruption for a long time. I have never paid a bribe in my life. I have asked some of my friends and they told me they have never paid a bribe. This is one of the things that makes America great.

Below is a quote that is really interesting to me. It is an idea that I have never thought of before. No matter what, it points out that corruption is really bad.

"This is a tremendous case for learning how corruption can destroy a society," says Peter Eigen, chairman of Transparency International, an independent, anti-corruption group based in Germany. Eigen says the true cost of corruption in Peru, and in other countries, is many times the amount of money actually embezzled.

"The whole essence of paying a bribe is that you want to buy a wrong decision," says Eigen. "A wrong decision about an investment program, a wrong decision about the sizing and timing of a huge project in a country, a wrong decision about the indebtedness of a country and the allocation of scarce resources. Corruption is really the main reason for poverty in these countries and the reason for despair and hopelessness of billions of people who are affected."