The global economy, recovering from its greatest crisis since the Great Depression, is now hostage to a corporate crime wave.
Eminent economist Jeffrey Sachs says that while most of the focus is on poor countries, and it's true that their governments accept more bribes, the rich countries are the ones that carry out the most offenses.
"Money talks, and it is corrupting politics and markets all over the world.'' Sachs says. "Hardly a day passes without a new story of malfeasance. Every Wall Street firm has paid significant fines during the past decade for phony accounting, insider trading, securities fraud, Ponzi schemes, or outright embezzlement by CEOs. A massive insider-trading ring is currently on trial in New York, and has implicated some leading financial-industry figures. And it follows a series of fines paid by America's biggest investment banks to settle charges of various securities violations."
Think about why no bank executive has gone to jail for creating the financial crisis that ruined lives, destroyed homes and families and put millions of people out of work. There's a reason for that. Governments are in the pockets of corporations that fund their political campaigns.
As Sachs says, next time you hear of a scandal in Africa or some other poor region, ask yourself who created the problem.
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