Blogger "Those Who Can See" offers a global introduction to differing rates of corruption.
Audacious Epigone calculates a moderate 0.44 correlation coefficient between perceived levels of corruption by country and cousin marriage rates.
U. of Chicago economist Luigi Zingales has a new book coming out, A Capitalism for the People, about growth of Italian-style corruption in America and what a pro-market populism can do about it. He even points out that economists may not be immune to the workings of self-interest!
An important point is that the dominant Who? Whom? media reflexes get in the way of noticing corruption. Simple concepts such as "conflict of interest" are much less often applied to those claiming to represent favored groups, such as self-appointed Hispanic activists threatening electoral ruin for any statesman unenthusiastic about more immigration.
For example, we have a persistent problem of gay corruption in some of our institutions, where homosexual harassers of boys and young men are shielded by other homosexuals in power. But the concept of "gay corruption" has largely been purged from 21st Century consciousness. Gays are Good, homophobes are Bad, that is all you need to know. So it's very hard for people to notice patterns. And pattern recognition is bad, too.
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Libya-ration not going so good.
Here is an interesting excerpt from the first the Peter Hessler's three books about China. There is the problem of corruption and then there is the problem of not caring.
Luigi Zingales made his point about crony capitalism and corruption pithily while participating in Union Square Ventures' "Hacking Society" discussion group last month:
"All entrepreneurs want a free market when they enter and don't want one after they win."
American society has become too tribal to have proper meritocratic capitalism...
What is the evidence of gay corruption in the nytimes article? Two of the guys were promptly fired and the third seemed to target gay kids and start long term relationships with them, with the one example given of a guy who followed his wealthy "harasser" to Europe after high school and into college.
Pattern matching must be very correlated with IQ, otherwise Raven's Progressive Matrices would not work. Of course, there is not a "there is no pattern" answer to them. Those who are good at teasing out even the slightest pattern will do well at them.
Of course... IQ is bad, too. I think I'm err, noticing a, erm, pattern. Bad, bad, noticer of things!
Zingales's book looks pretty interesting.
His criticism of crony capitalism is similar to (progressive economist) Dean Baker's criticism of "Loser Liberalism", making the point that Democrats are so fixated on taxing and spending, they ignore rigged markets.
http://www.cepr.net/index.php/publications/books/the-end-of-loser-liberalism
"All entrepreneurs want a free market when they enter and don't want one after they win."
http://www.businessinsider.com/megabus-stop-is-gone-2012-6
"New York City will not be renewing the permit that allows Megabus free use of the curb outside the Port Authority Bus Terminal.
This is the result of a lot of lobbying from a number of parties, including Megabus' competitors who have to pay for spots inside the Port Authority.
The permit ends in July, and as of right now, it isn't clear where the company will relocate to. The lobbyists are hoping that all stops just outside the terminal be banned by the Port Authority."
Dave in Hackensack:
The statement (about entrepreneurs wanting a free market only on entry and not after they're successful)says nothing special about entrepreneurs. Fundamentally, it's simply an observation that they're human.
Specialists of all sorts (doctors, lawyers, teachers, barbers, physical therapists, etc., ad infinitum) form professional organizations geared to control entry (and thus competition) in their specialties (and frequently seek the coercive aid of government to assist); same-o, same-o for unions, guilds, etc. Most of us want a free market for romantic pairing but feel entitled to an expectation of exclusivity in a "committed" relationship, even one legally recognized--after we've "won." Adam Smith commented similarly more than 200 years ago and so did Indians who hunted for fur (traders delayed price offers "until after church on Sunday,"--when they'd have had the opportunity to confer with other traders--so frequently the Indians assumed the church itself was a fur-price-fixing institution).
"Perceived rates of corruption" I wish people understood more clearly that this measures NOT the actual corruption in a country, BUT the often mythical perception of it in the mind of the common people. As such, it's largely meaningless when talking ACTUAL corruption. Instead, it's a measure of general TRUST towards the institutions.
My country (Italy) is often quoted as one of the most corrupted according to the index, but I'm not sure at all that our government is more corrupt than those of other countries. I personally know a politician extremely well and she hardly gains any personal benefit from her position beyond her wage and paid expenses (no greater than their equivalent in the rest of Europe). Also, political nepotism of the kind that is common in America (so many presidents and politicians with the same last names) would be unacceptable over here.
On the other hand, I suspect that our unelected bureaucracy and judges, as opposed to elected politicans, are more corrupt than their counterparts in the rest of the West. But I doubt that there's any objective way to measure it and surely there's no point in quoting the bogus "corruption perception index".
http://www.economist.com/node/21551061
India’s economy
Losing its magic
Politics is preventing India from fulfilling its vast economic potential
http://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2012/05/greeks-say-they-are-hardest-working-european-nation?scode=3d26b0b17065c2cf29c06c010184c684
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/damianthompson/100163885/a-new-global-elite-is-on-the-march/
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/watchdog/ct-met-madigan-foreclosure-20120604,0,581915.story
Speak softly and grab the big carrot. Blago spoke too loud.
homopromes and homopromic
promting that stuff
"offers a global introduction to differing rates of corruption"
If true then this is a very simple and cheap way to solve a lot of the 3rd world's problems (and also why importing third world levels of consanquinity and associated nepotism and corruption will bring America down to the same level).
http://www.chrisjonesblog.com/2012/06/top-ten-reasons-why-film-makers-screw-up-in-high-level-negotiations.html
I have found that some people who cannot allow the idea of anti-white discrimination to enter their heads are able to grok the idea of ethnic nepotism that excludes whites. So how about gay nepotism? Or gay nepotistic corruption? But then again why not 'discrimination against non-homosexuals', or 'corruption that discriminates against heterosexual Americans' or some such? Or discrimination against sexually typical Americans. ('Typical' is often used in the special ed. world to indicate 'non special', formerly known as 'normal'.)
http://www.rt.com/news/canada-naked-protest-tuition-400/
The new liberalism
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/08/don-rickles-tells-obama-racial-joke-at-afi-dinner_n_1582285.html
Oh my, more offensive than rap.
One day, it will be lgbtmb, mb for man-boy.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/08/gina-chon-brett-mcgurk-iraq-emails-wsj_n_1581692.html
On bottom of page, media power couples. Lotsa matzo boys with shikses/tiger-hos.
The organisation Transparency International maintain a corruption index, ranking countries. New Zealand is top, Denmark second, US 24 (behind Qatar).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corruption_Perceptions_Index
The UK (#16) is currently getting the bulk of its immigrants from Poland (#41), various Eastern European and Caribbean countries and Sri Lanka (between 60 and 90), India (95), Pakistan and Bangladesh (120 *) and then the basket cases of West Africa, Afghanistan and Somalia (bottom at 152).
"One day, it will be lgbtmb, mb for man-boy."
They already have taken to describing themselves in the vaguest of terms on many blogs, so as not to let words describe or give any indication to their behaviors: "sexual minorities."
Pretty smart, don't you think?
The statement (about entrepreneurs wanting a free market only on entry and not after they're successful)says nothing special about entrepreneurs. Fundamentally, it's simply an observation that they're human.
That's true of course, but there's a widespread belief on the right, especially among libertarians, that entrepreneurs are the pure distilled essence of free markets in action, that they are Hero's Of The Capitalist Revolution, that failure to cater to their every desire is tantamount to socialism.
Steve, Patter Recognition has for the most part been rewarded in male-dominated fields, because it gives competitive advantage. In male dominated fields, winning is basically everything, and even upsetting taboos, old ways, and entrenched interests can be forgiven by winning: making more money than the other hedge firm, winning more championships than the other coach/GM, etc.
Bill James may have spent years in Baseball Exile, but he did get hired. Because once someone gambles on that approach, others have to keep up. That's why male dominated fields tend to collapse rapidly the anti-pattern recognition because the rewards for winning are so huge.
Not so female dominated fields, where winning is not as important as social cohesion and unity and a fairly rigid pecking order. This is why there is really no example I can think of where a female leader in a female field overturned long-standing taboos on pattern recognition and "won" and drove competitors out of business. Where in Sports and male-oriented business (particularly Silicon Valley) pattern recognition gives huge advantages (though it is not easy for the pattern recognition to be adopted).
Gay Corruption runs afoul of female society's embrace of gays, as the "Next Civil Rights" movement and a way to pander to status-mongering and "a higher morality" and such. Its not about "winning" that's a male thing. Its why women love competitions for the twirliest boys and ice princess girls, and guys like MMA.
this is why it is such a huge mistake to allow open homosexuality in the US military.
modern year 2012 US liberals, who don't know anything about military service, other than they hate it and would never do it, will tell us:
"Oh, there won't be homo majors and colonels protecting and excusing bad behavior from homo lieutenants and captains, let alone covering up any screw ups which homo enlisted guys make. And, they DEFINITELY will continue to just promote normally, by merit, and not promote their fellow homos over more qualified soldiers."
except, that's exactly what's going to happen now. homos will rise through the ranks due to them now becoming a new, protected group which requires quota promotions, as when they get into positions of power, they will begin building a corps of homo. even worse, they'll be humping each other, further clouding the chain of command and introducing personal relationship dynamics into the necessary detached, austere military ethos.
liberals also said this would not happen when other groups were integrated into the military, but this is exactly what has happened there as well. africans have all kinds of quotas in the US military and now women do as well. standards were necessarily lowered for them, and the same thing will happen for the homos, who will also be able to whine and complain when they want to get out of some required duty, or when they don't get their way. reference back to their new protected status will be their very first move in the process, as we see with bradley manning.
As far as gay corruption goes, you forgot to mention the Catholic Church sex abuse scandals...
There was actually a book a while back, 'Goodbye to Good Men', talking about this. Can any Catholics with knowledge of the hierarchy comment? I don't know how you get people to sign up for celibacy in modern hypersexualized times...maybe the world is just too 'fallen'.
"My country (Italy) is often quoted as one of the most corrupted according to the index, but I'm not sure at all that our government is more corrupt than those of other countries."
But are you in the north or the south? The areas that vote Lega Nord are like Denmark.
I guess the link between consanquinity possibly causing corruption and the possible existence of various gay mafias - which as a group by definition are not going to be inbred - is how strongly each group feels it's "us" and "them."
Gene Berman,
"The statement (about entrepreneurs wanting a free market only on entry and not after they're successful)says nothing special about entrepreneurs. Fundamentally, it's simply an observation that they're human."
That's a good point.
Anon @ 2:51 pm:
"That's true of course, but there's a widespread belief on the right, especially among libertarians, that entrepreneurs are the pure distilled essence of free markets in action, that they are Hero's Of The Capitalist Revolution, that failure to cater to their every desire is tantamount to socialism."
Your hyperbole aside, it's not inconsistent to appreciate the role entrepreneurs play in starting companies, creating new products, and creating jobs while appreciating Zingales's point. And it's also consistent with conservatives' general tendency to prefer smaller government and fewer complex regulations: the less of a role government plays in the economy, the less it can tip its thumb on the scales to favor established companies over upstart competitors; similarly, the fewer complex regulations we have, the less large, established companies can use them as a moat against smaller competitors.
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