Saurav Pathak wrote:
Saurav:santanu-da:now i think i will need some convincing that corruption is actually bad. :)
No danger of that. Plenty of harm corruption does, or else it wouldn't be called so. There's lot in a name. As for me, I am already repenting the words "good" and "bad" - I usually try to avoid.
Recently, economists have started looking at countries with high nominal taxes where the underground economy appears to be one of the main agents for economic growth. Corruption has made that possible. More interestingly, the existence of the underground economy has put a limit on the amount of bribe officials who regulate can charge in the legal economy (for the agent being charged can always escape into the illegal underground economy). The overall effect is to reduce extortion by officials in general....
Another private thought I have often had is the role of corruption as a counter to ideological extremism by politicians. I am not so much scared of the self-seeking politicians whose means are eventually dictated by private greed as by politicians who, to a significant extent, appear to be ideologically committed to extremist positions. Like the pracharaks in the sangh parivar. Or the rifle in hand communists. Or the Nazis. Corruption moderates their stance and may save civil society from enormous strife.
Santanu-da.
