[lbo-talk] Kenya offended at N. Zealander's dog food aid offer

[Joseph Wanzala]

Good question, I certainly don't know the answer. Maybe its kind of like who 
determines what is a democracy? - but I would think that in pure monetary 
terms there is a direct relationship between the level of wealth in a given 
economic system and the level of corruption, simply because there is more 
money to grease palms etc. - clearly there is endemic corporate and 
government corruption in the US, Western Europe and the former East Bloc 
countries, especially Russia. (African wags had a field day with Enron as 
you can imagine, reversing roles for a change ;-) Western countries, because 
of regulatory systems put in place in the (relatively good) old days, still 
have some latent ability to deal with the problems, and because their 
relative wealth, can more easily absorb huge financial scandals. 
Historically Tanzania has been less corrupt than countries such as Nigeria 
(which is by now synonymous with corruption) and Kenya, and this was mainly 
due to the legacy of the late 'African Socialist' (quotation marks do not 
denote sarcasm) Julius Nyerere. However, the last decade or so has seen a 
huge influx of investment and exploration of Tanzania considerable, and 
heretofore mostly untapped mineral resources and a comcomintant rise in the 
level of 'magendo' to use the slang Kiswahili term.

Joe W.


>From: michael perelman <michael at ecst.csuchico.edu>
>Reply-To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org
>To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org
>Subject: Re: [lbo-talk] Kenya offended at N. Zealander's dog food aid offer
>Date: Wed, 01 Feb 2006 17:11:16 -0800
>
>My question about corruption was not limited to Africa, but what determines 
>the level of corruption across the world.  But is Tanzania as corrupt as 
>Keyna or Nigeria?
>
>---
>Michael Perelman
>Economics Department
>California State University
>michael at ecst.csuchico.edu
>Chico, CA 95929
>530-898-5321
>fax 530-898-5901
>
>
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