Four reasons why corruption matters

Author:
Oliver Bullough

More than a trillion dollars are stolen from the world's poorest countries every year, which is such a vast sum that it is hard to visualise.

That amount of money would get you Apple, with enough left over to buy every sterling-denominated note or coin in circulation.

To count out a trillion dollars in dollar bills would take you almost 32,000 years. If the first anatomically modern humans had started counting at the moment they crossed from the Middle East into Europe, they would be getting to a trillion around now.

But if you live in a wealthy country, you may be struggling to care.

After all, most of that money ends up supporting jobs in estate agencies, buoying the share prices of luxury goods companies, and taking our politicians on all-expenses-paid trips to Baku, Bahrain, or Bamako.

Although corruption is bad for other people, it suits us very well, right?

Wrong. Corruption is everyone's problem, and here are four reasons why you should care about the world's failure to properly address the situation.

 

The article's full-text is available here.

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