01 September 2002

Still with Kathimerini: from the weekend edition, an assessment on the status of the November 17 terrorist group investigation, a story which has gone relatively quiet, after totally dominating the airwaves for 6 weeks.  This article focuses on the impact on the troubled relationship between Greece and the USA, and traces the origins of this tension. 9:08:14 PM    comment []

Corruption The English edition of Greek Newspaper Kathimerini  reported this week that "Greece has the worst ranking among European countries regarding the perception of how corrupt the country is, according to the latest Transparency International survey". Greece was last among EU members, with a score of 4.2, in 44th place on the catalog (South Africa was in 36th, according to a posting on the Farrago weblog). This is no surprise to us - we suspect that corruption is very much one of the reasons we have been unable to get a building license for the last two years (about which I have yet to post to the weblog, although it was one of my primary reasons for starting it).  Every day we are faced with new evidence or anecdotes of how pervasive, and how accepted, the practice of ladoma (bribery, or euphemistically "lubrication") is in Greek life and business.  Virtually everyone we discuss our case with, immediately either asks whether we offered ladoma, or states categorically that we didn't get our license because we didn't bribe.  A past president of our Rotary Club, a gentlemen who swore to "uphold, encourage and foster highest ethical standards in business and the professions" when he became a Rotarian, offered last year to "speak to someone" if we gave him 50 000 drachmas in an envelope. An old friend and colleague of Ritsa's, who was private secretary to the Prime Minister, Costas Simitis, when asked if he could intervene, explained that she had to bribe the local planning office to get a license to build her holiday house.  Another friend, a very successful businessman, says that he would be unable to survive in business if he didn't do it.  It is absolutely tolerated and accepted as a fact of life.  People rationalize it by saying that civil servants are paid so poorly that have to indulge in bribery in order to survive. I'm outraged - in the 21st century, in a supposedly advanced country, a member of the EU, this should not be tolerated.  I concur with the statement of Peter Eigen of Transparency International: "Political elites and their cronies continue to take kickbacks at every opportunity. Hand in glove with corrupt business people, they are trapping whole nations in poverty and hampering sustainable development.  Politicians increasingly pay lip-service to the fight against corruption but they fail to act on the clear message of TI's CPI: that they must clamp down on corruption to break the vicious circle of poverty and graft." Another TI official, Tunku Abdul Aziz said: "Corruption continues to deny the poor, the marginalised, and the least educated members of every society the social, economic and political benefits that should properly accrue to them, benefits that are taken for granted in societies that have managed to shake off the yoke of corruption." A commentary, headed "Stamping out Corruption" in the following day's Kathimerini addressed the issue in similar terms, relating it to the Greek experience: The survey conducted by Transparency International, an anti-graft watchdog, on perceived public corruption confirmed what Greek citizens know from everyday experience. Not surprisingly, Greece has the dubious honor of being branded as the most corrupt of all EU members. What is surprising, however, is that the government and the entire political system keep deluding themselves. It is common knowledge that corruption has become the norm, rather than the exception, in the public sphere. Its tentacles have spread into the entire structure of society, undermining the rule of law. Bribes are common in carrying out ordinary transactions. In order to avoid delays, citizens bribe civil servants to skip the red tape. .....The worst thing about corruption is that politicians and citizens treat it as a normal phenomenon. The requisite measures to curb it are known to everyone, but the political will to do so remains feeble. So, Greece will remain relatively poor and underdeveloped, chaotic and undisciplined as long as this is tolerated.  An article by Baroness Chalker, a past British Cabinet Minister in Anglo American Corporation's house magazine Optima illustrates the point:  Professor Shang Jin-Wei of Harvard University has found that the difference in corruption levels between Mexico (with high levels of corruption) and Singapore (with low levels of corruption) was the equivalent of a 20% increase in the marginal rate of taxation.  This is particularly damaging considering it has slao been shown that a 1% increase in marginal tax rate reduces foreign direct investment (FDI) by 5%. Baroness Chalker also points out that Botswana, by far the most successful African economy, with real GDP growth of 8.3% in 1997-98 is also the highest ranking African country (26th) in the Corruption Perception Index.     8:43:29 PM    comment []

Here's a telling quotation, from Jeffrey Sachs, Columbia University development economist (via Ronald Bailey in Reason): Africa is indeed a continent rich in human and natural resources, but it has failed to develop because as Jeffrey Sachs noted, "Capital is a coward." It will not flow to countries that are unstable, unhealthy, and illiterate. "The poorest of the poor countries are not suffering from globalization," declared Sachs. "They are suffering from being excluded from globalization."   6:04:35 PM    comment []

Big March a Damp Squib? ...and a good time was had by all. I am as delighted (as the journalists are apparently disappointed) that the widely-anticipated disturbances did not happen at the Jo'burg Summit yesterday.  By all accounts the organizers and SAPS managed the march exceptionally well, and this should reflect well on Jo'burg, the much-maligned police services and our country (as opposed to, say, Seattle and Genoa, which will be forever associated with uncontrollable, chaotic violence).  I'm also delighted that the odious Essop Pahad was boo'ed and catcalled by the crowd, and had to run for cover - couldn't happen to a nicer guy! Now, if only the goodwill and good vibes could be transferred into the convention centre, and something more than dissension and meaningless posturing can come of the deliberations to give hope to all those marchers and other observers around the world. There are many simplistic articles floating around (this one is typical)stigmatizing the USA as being isolated and single-handedly destroying the aims and objectives of the conference, and George W Bush in particular seems to be singled out (he must be an amazingly effective president if in 18 months he can so much damage the environment - was his predecessor so different?).  Others are more well-considered, and reflect the complexities of the negotiations, like this one from The Guardian, and the International Herald  Tribune yesterday pointed out that behind the scenes there are other countries with similar agendas.  And not much mention of the EU's obscene agricultural subsidies, maybe that's why they like to keep the heat on the US, an easy target. Perhaps the most sensible comment comes from an unlikely source -  the Executive Director of Friends of the Earth:  The Americans hate the sanitation target, because they think it's totally undeliverable.  They don't like agreeing targets that they don't think can be delivered. They're not like the Southern Europeans, who'll will sign up to anything and then never implement it. NGOs need to remember that we're not dealing with robots or aliens. Americans are as moved by people living in desperate poverty as anyone else. It's got nothing to do with them being against poor people. They just don't want to waste taxpayer's money on corrupt regimes, countries with no capacity, or those UN agencies that are notorious for spending money with no controls. (Thanks to the Daily Summit weblog).     5:07:56 PM    comment []