I would say corruption is a systemic evil. When every nation intend to achieve growth and security, for a developing country like India growth is like achieving moksha, for a company profit making and capitalism (sophisticatedly called "free market" ) are dharama and where for citizens money, power and pleasure by all means are Karma talking about corruption and nepotism is nothing but sheer hypocrisy. These evils are the essential features of the consumerist capitalist system. As even quoted by Indira Gandhi once that "Corruption is universal" she must be referring in this sense only. Today in the nation where "Might is Right" prevails it is justified if A Raja or Kalmadi move freely without any action or even statement by party high command. And hence the philosophers and political champions have renamed and tried to rationalized corruption by saying it “productive corruption - a necessary evil for fast growth” thinking that atleast it is better to rename it if inevitable. Today corruption is no more an individual fault and I intentionally used word "systemic Evil" because to remove corruption from roots we need to change and challenge today's lifestyle and human happiness which is very much a part of society(system). Hence today fight against corruption is towards consumerist capital society which we are part of .I would like to end with a saying i heard or read somewhere: “Life is short, honesty is long".
Corruption as a practice is one of the few evils that is supposed to have wide ramifications across all the spectrums of the economy. Corruption can be stated as ‘Abuse of Public Office for Private gain’. It’s a product of antiquated and rigid administrative framework & inequality in the social system. But recent studies have shown that corruption may be inconsistent with development & may even foster it. In the late 1970s, Nathaniel Leff of Columbia University argued, for example, that "corruption may introduce an element of competition into what is otherwise a comfortably monopolistic industry and payment of the highest bribes becomes one of the principal criteria for allocation. Hence, a tendency toward efficiency is introduced into the system." Likewise economist Francis Lui, in a 1985 issue of the Journal of Political Economy, asserted that "bribing strategies...minimize the average value of the time costs of the queue and the official could choose to speed up the service when bribery is allowed." Their arguments could be justified in economies which are market driven & competitive by nature where rigid & bureaucratic regulatory controls squeeze the efficiency aspect & stem procrastination. Recent Studies have shown that emerging economies which have liberalized their trade practices & have become economic drivers of global economy, corruption has had a positive impact in effective delivery mechanism of services. The East Asian Tiger Economies like Taiwan, Honk Kong, South Korea & Communist Regime of China which have registered high economic growth in the past decade also have high rates of corruption. India also viewed as the next economic powerhouse with high GDP growth has high rates of corruption indicated by the transparency index released by International Transparency Council. For a new firm to initiate business proceedings like India takes 80 days after complying with all legal norms as compared to Australia & U.K where it takes 2-5 days. These firms would definitely create development opportunities in the form of jobs, raise the per capita income & drive economic growth. Economies that have developed a credible rule of law, maintained decent macroeconomic management, limited the pervasiveness of corruption, and prevented corrupt practices from encroaching on their export-oriented policies corruption is going to act as a lubricator & would have a greasing effect on the economy.
I would say corruption is a systemic evil. When every nation intend to achieve growth and security, for a developing country like India growth is like achieving moksha, for a company profit making and capitalism (sophisticatedly called "free market" ) are dharama and where for citizens money, power and pleasure by all means are Karma talking about corruption and nepotism is nothing but sheer hypocrisy.
ReplyDeleteThese evils are the essential features of the consumerist capitalist system. As even quoted by Indira Gandhi once that "Corruption is universal" she must be referring in this sense only. Today in the nation where "Might is Right" prevails it is justified if A Raja or Kalmadi move freely without any action or even statement by party high command. And hence the philosophers and political champions have renamed and tried to rationalized corruption by saying it “productive corruption - a necessary evil for fast growth” thinking that atleast it is better to rename it if inevitable.
Today corruption is no more an individual fault and I intentionally used word "systemic Evil" because to remove corruption from roots we need to change and challenge today's lifestyle and human happiness which is very much a part of society(system).
Hence today fight against corruption is towards consumerist capital society which we are part of .I would like to end with a saying i heard or read somewhere:
“Life is short, honesty is long".
Corruption as a practice is one of the few evils that is supposed to have wide ramifications across all the spectrums of the economy. Corruption can be stated as ‘Abuse of Public Office for Private gain’. It’s a product of antiquated and rigid administrative framework & inequality in the social system.
ReplyDeleteBut recent studies have shown that corruption may be inconsistent with development & may even foster it. In the late 1970s, Nathaniel Leff of Columbia University argued, for example, that "corruption may introduce an element of competition into what is otherwise a comfortably monopolistic industry and payment of the highest bribes becomes one of the principal criteria for allocation. Hence, a tendency toward efficiency is introduced into the system." Likewise economist Francis Lui, in a 1985 issue of the Journal of Political Economy, asserted that "bribing strategies...minimize the average value of the time costs of the queue and the official could choose to speed up the service when bribery is allowed." Their arguments could be justified in economies which are market driven & competitive by nature where rigid & bureaucratic regulatory controls squeeze the efficiency aspect & stem procrastination.
Recent Studies have shown that emerging economies which have liberalized their trade practices & have become economic drivers of global economy, corruption has had a positive impact in effective delivery mechanism of services. The East Asian Tiger Economies like Taiwan, Honk Kong, South Korea & Communist Regime of China which have registered high economic growth in the past decade also have high rates of corruption. India also viewed as the next economic powerhouse with high GDP growth has high rates of corruption indicated by the transparency index released by International Transparency Council. For a new firm to initiate business proceedings like India takes 80 days after complying with all legal norms as compared to Australia & U.K where it takes 2-5 days. These firms would definitely create development opportunities in the form of jobs, raise the per capita income & drive economic growth.
Economies that have developed a credible rule of law, maintained decent macroeconomic management, limited the pervasiveness of corruption, and prevented corrupt practices from encroaching on their export-oriented policies corruption is going to act as a lubricator & would have a greasing effect on the economy.