Out of the corner of my eye I saw the motorbike clank over and skid a long way. (…)
Source: Xuecun, Murong “The Accident.” Guardian, 10 April 2012.
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current affairs
In The Wall Street Journal article “Corruption is a just a symptom, not the disease,” Acemoglu and Robinson argue that poor institutions and not corruption is the cause of global poverty.
links
questions
1. Does the farmer in “The Accident” actually come to believe that he is at fault or does he agree to pay because he can see that there is no way that he can win this case?
2. Acemoglu and Robinson claim that “corruption is a symptom, not the disease.” What do they mean by this? How do they support this claim? What is their view of anti-corruption campaigns?
3. Murong Xuecun’s story “The Accident” supports Acemoglu and Robinson’s claim that corruption can occur due to “the absence of democratic accountability and effective checks and balances, like the rule of law and press freedom.” Explain.
4. What are Acemoglu and Robinson’s examples of pre-1994 South-Africa and contemporary Cuba intended to show?
5. Is it permissible for Western companies dealing in corrupt regimes to pay bribes to gain access to markets? Should we say “In Rome, do as the Romans” or should the same constraints hold as in the West? Would it be permissible for a humanitarian NGO to pay bribes in order to gain access to, say, a refugee camp that is desperately in need of aid?