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Living standards and corruption
Corruption is a highly complex phenomenon, not merely a question of the morality of politicians, bureaucrats and businessmen. It goes beyond, to the morality of a public willing or forced to pay bribes for every aspect of living. It goes beyond, to formulating laws against corruption in certain countries, implementing existing laws in others. It goes beyond to improving the socio-economic conditions.
Experts say there is a direct connection between a high standard of living and low corruption levels. German NGO Transparency International has found Finland to be the least corrupt country in the world, scoring 9.7 on a scale of 10. Finland ranks high on the UN Human Development Index (HDI) as well, as do other Scandinavian countries where corruption is low. India is highly corrupt, in 71st position, scoring only 2.7 along with Honduras, Ivory Coast, Russia, Tanzania and Zimbabwe. Of the 173 countries listed in the HDI, India ranks 124. Countries like Pakistan and African nations where corruption is even higher rank lower on the HDI scale. So an improvement in health, education, infrastructure, human and democratic rights in a country does have a direct bearing on levels of corruption.
Anita Pratap, 'The Siphon On Top. Living standards and corruption are directly related to each other' in: Outlook India com, Feb. 13, 2003
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