7.6 Global Corruption and the Cost
Doing business successfully requires many things: capital (money), a lot of energy, and a favorable environment. Unfortunately, in some countries and regions of the world there is an additional obstacle, corruption. The global cost of corruption is difficult to gauge. Small bribes paid by many people to get licenses and official documents to multi-national companies bribing governments to get massive projects.
Corruption Resources
This film highlights the corruption that can be found at the highest levels of international business.
Visit this site to learn more about corruption and the costs to the world.
As you can see the United States is relatively honest by any standard of the world. However, many of the countries that we support or arm are hotbeds of corruption. Egypt, Pakistan, Indonesia and many others accept American support and do business with American companies while pocketing large percentages for private use.
However, the United States is not immune from corruption. In the next few classes we will choose two stories of American corruption to give us some perspective on the problem and the ways to fight it.