Twisted Titan
26th October 2010, 06:59 AM
U.S. Falls in Corruption Ranking as Crisis Hits Confidence
The U.S. fell in a global ranking of corruption as concerns over financial regulatory oversight and political campaign funding weigh on public confidence, corruption watchdog group Transparency International said today.
The U.S. ranked 22nd on the list, down from 19th last year, with a score of 7.1 out of 10, compared with 7.5 in 2009, the Berlin-based group’s Corruption Perceptions Index showed. That’s its lowest ranking since the index began in 1995. Denmark, New Zealand and Singapore maintained top positions on the list with 9.3, showing low levels of corruption, while Afghanistan, Myanmar and Somalia came last with scores as low as 1.1.
The aftermath of the financial crisis and the effects of the decline on American homeowners have intensified skepticism of public integrity and hurt the country’s ranking, said Nancy Boswell, president of Transparency International-USA. She cited foreclosure procedures, in which financial institutions employed so-called robo-signers who pushed through hundreds of repossessions a week without verifying documents.
“The drop is disturbing,” Boswell said in an interview by phone from Washington. “The American public is concerned that there is an integrity deficit here, that ethics isn’t as foremost as it should be.”
Transparency International defines corruption as “the abuse of entrusted power for private gain.”
While Boswell identified a “myriad of issues” that have dented corruption perceptions in the U.S., she also pointed to a flood of spending on political campaigns following a January decision by the Supreme Court. That decision, Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, struck down limits on corporate and labor-union political expenditures.
‘Absence of Transparency’
“The decision has contributed to what appears to be an absence of transparency,” Boswell said.
This year’s index, which measures the perception of corruption in the public sector, showed that 132 of the 180 nations reviewed scored below five on a 0-to-10 scale, with 10 indicating the least corrupt, Transparency said.
Greece fell seven spots to 71st place, ranking last among the European Union’s 27 members. Prime Minister George Papandreou’s disclosure a year ago that the budget deficit was twice as large as the previous administration had claimed prompted a European sovereign-debt crisis.
Italy also tumbled in the rankings, down four spots to 63rd place. Italian politics were buffeted over the past year as allies of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi were put under investigation for corruption. Three members of the government resigned amid criminal probes, including Industry Minister Claudio Scajola, who stepped down May 4 after court documents showed a builder who had been awarded government contracts helped purchase the minister’s home in Rome.
Declining Scores
The Czech Republic, Hungary, Madagascar and Niger also saw their scores decline on the index.
Corruption worldwide remains an impediment to growth as governments spend more money on battling the financial crisis, climate change and poverty, the report said. Policy makers must make fighting corruption a part of these efforts, the group said.
“These results signal that significantly greater efforts must go into strengthening governance across the globe,” Transparency International’s international head, Huguette Labelle, said in a statement. She called on countries to implement the United Nations Convention against Corruption.
The group’s research shows “little or no enforcement” of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s anti-bribery convention among as many as 20 of 36 advanced countries that signed the agreement, the report said.
Unstable Countries
Transparency International highlighted that unstable countries with conflicts are often at the bottom of the list. Afghanistan, with a score of 1.4, has faced a barrage of corruption allegations under Afghan President Hamid Karzai and his Cabinet. Nearly a quarter of the votes cast in last month’s Afghan parliamentary election had to be scrapped.
Countries that improved in their rankings included Chile, Kuwait, Qatar, Ecuador, Jamaica and Haiti, the group said.
The index has become a benchmark gauge of perceptions of a country’s corruption, an assessment of risks for investors. It’s an aggregate indicator that combines data from as many as 13 surveys and assessments from 10 independent institutions, including country experts and business leaders.
To contact the reporter on this story: Patrick Donahue in Berlin at at pdonahue1@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Hertling at jhertling@bloomberg.net
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-1...onfidence.html
The U.S. fell in a global ranking of corruption as concerns over financial regulatory oversight and political campaign funding weigh on public confidence, corruption watchdog group Transparency International said today.
The U.S. ranked 22nd on the list, down from 19th last year, with a score of 7.1 out of 10, compared with 7.5 in 2009, the Berlin-based group’s Corruption Perceptions Index showed. That’s its lowest ranking since the index began in 1995. Denmark, New Zealand and Singapore maintained top positions on the list with 9.3, showing low levels of corruption, while Afghanistan, Myanmar and Somalia came last with scores as low as 1.1.
The aftermath of the financial crisis and the effects of the decline on American homeowners have intensified skepticism of public integrity and hurt the country’s ranking, said Nancy Boswell, president of Transparency International-USA. She cited foreclosure procedures, in which financial institutions employed so-called robo-signers who pushed through hundreds of repossessions a week without verifying documents.
“The drop is disturbing,” Boswell said in an interview by phone from Washington. “The American public is concerned that there is an integrity deficit here, that ethics isn’t as foremost as it should be.”
Transparency International defines corruption as “the abuse of entrusted power for private gain.”
While Boswell identified a “myriad of issues” that have dented corruption perceptions in the U.S., she also pointed to a flood of spending on political campaigns following a January decision by the Supreme Court. That decision, Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, struck down limits on corporate and labor-union political expenditures.
‘Absence of Transparency’
“The decision has contributed to what appears to be an absence of transparency,” Boswell said.
This year’s index, which measures the perception of corruption in the public sector, showed that 132 of the 180 nations reviewed scored below five on a 0-to-10 scale, with 10 indicating the least corrupt, Transparency said.
Greece fell seven spots to 71st place, ranking last among the European Union’s 27 members. Prime Minister George Papandreou’s disclosure a year ago that the budget deficit was twice as large as the previous administration had claimed prompted a European sovereign-debt crisis.
Italy also tumbled in the rankings, down four spots to 63rd place. Italian politics were buffeted over the past year as allies of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi were put under investigation for corruption. Three members of the government resigned amid criminal probes, including Industry Minister Claudio Scajola, who stepped down May 4 after court documents showed a builder who had been awarded government contracts helped purchase the minister’s home in Rome.
Declining Scores
The Czech Republic, Hungary, Madagascar and Niger also saw their scores decline on the index.
Corruption worldwide remains an impediment to growth as governments spend more money on battling the financial crisis, climate change and poverty, the report said. Policy makers must make fighting corruption a part of these efforts, the group said.
“These results signal that significantly greater efforts must go into strengthening governance across the globe,” Transparency International’s international head, Huguette Labelle, said in a statement. She called on countries to implement the United Nations Convention against Corruption.
The group’s research shows “little or no enforcement” of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s anti-bribery convention among as many as 20 of 36 advanced countries that signed the agreement, the report said.
Unstable Countries
Transparency International highlighted that unstable countries with conflicts are often at the bottom of the list. Afghanistan, with a score of 1.4, has faced a barrage of corruption allegations under Afghan President Hamid Karzai and his Cabinet. Nearly a quarter of the votes cast in last month’s Afghan parliamentary election had to be scrapped.
Countries that improved in their rankings included Chile, Kuwait, Qatar, Ecuador, Jamaica and Haiti, the group said.
The index has become a benchmark gauge of perceptions of a country’s corruption, an assessment of risks for investors. It’s an aggregate indicator that combines data from as many as 13 surveys and assessments from 10 independent institutions, including country experts and business leaders.
To contact the reporter on this story: Patrick Donahue in Berlin at at pdonahue1@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Hertling at jhertling@bloomberg.net
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-1...onfidence.html