The war on public-sector corruption is not going so well for taxpayers.
Chicanery, kickbacks and all manner of dirty backroom deals are on the rise around the world as efforts to bring more accountability and transparency to government operations are, in many regions, losing ground to big money and big politics.
That duo, according to Transparency International (TI), is working hard to subvert integrity at every level.
The good news, as noted in the organization’s recently released Corruption Perceptions Index 2019, is that anti-corruption movements around the world gained some momentum over the past year as protesters in Latin America, North Africa and other regions took to the streets to vent frustration over government corruption.
The TI index ranks 180 countries on their perceived levels of public-sector corruption. On a scale of zero to 100, the three countries with the best scores are Denmark and New Zealand (87) and Finland (86). The three countries with the worst public-sector corruption rankings are Somalia (9), South Sudan (12) and Syria (13).
Canada (77) is in the 2019 top 20, but its score is down seven points since 2012.
The United States, meanwhile, dropped to 23rd with a 69-point total that is its lowest score in eight years.
Little surprise there when you consider such colossal financial boondoggles as recent revelations that the Pentagon racked up US$35 trillion in accounting adjustments in one year.
TI’s remedy for public-sector corruption includes controlling political financing and regulating lobbying activities. Its prescription will be a bitter pill to swallow for the beneficiaries of corruption.
Too bad.
Their corrosive business playbook is hollowing out democratic foundations all over the world.
It’s time that the law-abiding majority took pre-emptive action before it becomes a minority.
Big money is bad for public-sector integrity; it and the growing income equality gap are the main forces unravelling the economic and social fabric of countries all over the world.
