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[Hotchkiss1987]

So in my macroeconomics class on Monday, we discussed what restricted the growth of GDP, and one of the reasons our prof. put up was corruption. I thought about it a bit more, and this is what I came up with:

Capitalism runs because people want to maximize profit. Capitalism essentially runs on greed. Gekko said,

The new law of evolution in corporate America seems to be survival of the unfittest. Well, in my book you either do it right or you get eliminated... The point is, ladies and gentleman, that greed -- for lack of a better word -- is good. Greed is right. Greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of its forms -- greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge -- has marked the upward surge of mankind.

Corruption is a manifestation of greed. Officials take bribes because they are greedy, and want to make as much money as they can. This leads to the obvious conclusion that since capitalism runs on greed, it's supported by corruption!




Disclaimer: There are some gaps in the logic, and I have to run to class now instead of explaining more about the whole "greed is good", but you get the general idea! I am also in no way endorsing corruption or any other sort of criminal activity, this is just using logic to come to a conclusion that we all know is wrong, but logical.

[Miles]

I would take this one step further and say that money and the monetary system itself is what breeds corruption. This is a great essay on the subject at The Venus Project