Corruption Issues Featured in World Press
Jan 22nd, 2008 • Posted in: NewsChina, Bangladesh, Nigeria, and Thailand all coping with various issues; also, new study says corruption artificially expands workforce, draining efficiency in industry
VARIOUS DATELINES
Corruption continued to be the focus of news stories from around the globe last week. Among the stories:
- China’s latest anticorruption push centers on a distinctly capitalist problem: insider stock trading. According to the official news agency Xinhua, the Communist Party has warned that officials who abuse their positions to transact insider trades will face fines and prison. Party heads also warned local officials not to accept gifts at weddings and funerals, cautioning also against using their position to unfairly buy affordable housing intended for low-income families.
- In Bangladesh, former prime minister Sheikh Hasina is on trial for extortion. The BBC reports that Hasina and her family are denying charges that they took money from a prominent businessman. Another former prime minister, Khaleda Zia, also is facing corruption charges. The two women, members of different parties, alternated as leaders of Bangladesh for 15 years until October 2006.
- Nigerian president Umaru Musa Yar’Adua is attempting to reassure the international community, which is skittish about investing in his nation, that anticorruption measures are in place and working. The Lagos Day reports that Yar’Adua said that anticorruption monitors, who will be trained abroad, will scrutinize how public officials obtain their assets.
- Backers of former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was overthrown amid a corruption scandal, have formed a coalition government with five other parties in the Thai parliament, reports the Voice of America. The move paves the way for Thaksin’s return from exile. His supporters also want to exonerate him of the corruption charges.
- Corruption breeds inefficiency, which means lower profits, say researchers at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business. In a recent study, researchers found that corruption leads to inflation of the employee ranks and drags down efficiency. This, in turn, slows the growth of a nation’s wealth. According to a summary of the report posted on the university’s website, while it is widely known that corruption is associated with lower per-capita gross national products and lower rates of investments, the study is the first to demonstrate how corruption damages national economies by making business inefficient.
Sources: Xinhua, Jan. 19 — BBC, Jan. 19 — Day, Jan. 19 — Voice of America, Jan. 19 — Stanford Graduate School of Business News, December 2007.
For more information, see: Related Newsline story, Jan.14 — Related Newsline story, Dec. 17, 2007 — Related Newsline story, Dec. 10, 2007 — Related Newsline story, Nov. 26, 2007 — Related Newsline story, Nov. 26, 2007 — Stanford press release, Jan. 16.
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