The Blessings of Corruption
Corruption is defined as government officials’ breaking their own rules. But if the rules are bad, can corruption not be a positive thing? Of course it can, and under oppressive regimes it often is. Bribing bureaucrats and tax policemen may be the only way to stay in business. Companies must pay off congressmen or be singled out for punishment. Smugglers buy the cooperation of customs agents, cops, judges and elected officials, and in so doing help overcome high tariffs, satisfy the demand for illegal substances, and allow trade to go on between hostile governments. As Mises argues bitterly, “But for the inefficiency of the law-givers and the laxity, carelessness, and corruption of many of the functionaries, the last vestiges of the market economy would have long since disappeared.” (Human Action, 859)
In general, corruption flourishes in highly regimented societies, because the influence of government employees is too arbitrary and too great to ignore. Bribery is, first and foremost, a means of self-defense. I am reminded of P.J. O’Rourke’s quip, “When buying and selling are controlled by legislation, the first things to be bought and sold are legislators.” (Parliament of Whores, 210)
Posted: December 15th, 2006 under Politics.