Corrupt anti-corruption campaigns - Kaushik Basu

The Amazon rainforest has been burning for weeks. Yet Brazil’s president, Jair Bolsonaro, mobilized the armed forces to help contain the fires only in the last few days – in the face of European leaders’ threat to suspend a major trade deal and the possibility of a far-reaching boycott of Brazilian products. 

• Bolsonaro government’s weak enforcement of laws protecting the Amazon are root causes of the crisis, encouraging ranchers to set fires to clear land for agriculture.
• The crisis in the Amazon is a stark example of the damage that can be done when governments bow unequivocally to business interests. It also highlights the cynical manipulation of anti-corruption efforts to undermine democracy and advance an authoritarian political agenda.
• Some conservative economists argue that corruption can be beneficial, as it enables economic actors to bypass regulations, thereby enabling markets to function more effectively. The truth is that corruption corrodes markets, protects incumbents from competitive challenges by impeding the entry of new actors, destroys the moral fabric of society, and stunts economic development. There is a strong inverse correlation between development and corruption.
• The world’s least corrupt countries are Denmark and New Zealand. Both have achieved high standards of living. The world’s most corrupt countries are Somalia, South Sudan, and Syria – all poor and mired in conflict. Ranked from least to most corrupt, the United States is 22 of 180 and, India is 78th, China is 87th and Brazil is 105th.
• The connection between corruption management and democratic compromise is complex. This is the reason why many leaders who have come to power with a genuine interest in controlling corruption have ended up nurturing cronyism and damaging democracy instead.
• Some political leaders launch a corruption “purge” that targets rivals or critics for prosecution. In countries that are rife with high-level corruption, leaders can simply begin by taking aim at those who challenge their authority. What starts as an anti-corruption drive ends up as an instrument of cronyism and media control. And by creating a safe zone for loyalists, it often ends up exacerbating corruption.
• Corruption can implicate even those who would prefer to operate according to the law.

Kaushik Basu, former Chief Economist of the World Bank and former Chief Economic Adviser to the Government of India, is Professor of Economics at Cornell University and Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution.

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