Ha-Joon Chang Quotes

Corruption often exists because there are too many market forces, not too few.

Mr. Ten Percent

In general, corruption tends to exist whenever governments have favors to extend, or something to sell.

Unfortunately, corruption is widespread in government agencies and public enterprises.

Corruption, embezzlement, fraud, these are all characteristics which exist everywhere. It is regrettably the way human nature functions, whether we like it or not. What successful economies do is keep it to a minimum. No one has ever eliminated any of that stuff.

I'm very interested in how corruption works - and it's not necessarily the way one might expect.

Despite high profile examples of local authorities been tried, convicted, and sometimes even executed for corruption, many officials simply calculate that the payoff for malfeasance is worth the risk of being caught.

Honest Graft

We must rid the country of corruption, cronyism and nepotism.

The hanky-panky in public service that really matters is about money and not sex.

Corruption is becoming more and more sophisticated in our societies. In the institutions we are talking about, the people who are corrupt are actually the ones who set up these institutions

The main thing is the ‘rule of corruption’: helping the horse both to race and also to get a mouthful of hay. It’s what all civil servants are secretly thinking. Our expectations for our civil servants are far too high, far too grandiose. The pressure is more than their flesh-and-blood bodies can stand.

In Mafia states government officials enrich themselves and their families and friends while exploiting the money, muscle, political influence, and global connections of criminal syndicates to cement and expand their own power…Top positions in some of the world’s most profitable illicit enterprises are no longer filled only by professional criminals; they now include senior government officials, legislators, spy chiefs, heads of police departments, military officers, and, in some extreme cases, even heads of state and their families.

It is too early to tell where Mobutu will draw the line between corruption and the ‘normal’ use of payments and patronage to facilitate operations.

Corruption is when a politician uses public funds to deliver pistachio ice cream to his home and transfer garden furniture to his Caesarea villa, then requesting that the expenses be covered for the water in his pool and fights to get a private jet.

Corruption in Saudi Arabia is quite different from corruption in most other countries, as it is not limited to a 'bribe' in return for a contract, or expensive gift for the family member of a government official or prince, or use of a private jet that is charged to the government so a family can go on vacation.

Corruption is found everywhere. I admit there is some corruption in my staff - not me.

New York... where people come for their Ph.D. in corruption.

I could never have any corruption from the state because I never had any business with the state.

There's some criminals that wear badges. Guess what? There's some criminals that work in the media. There's some criminals that are football coaches. There's some criminals that are politicians. There are criminals that work in churches.

Corruption in government is an overwhelming problem.

Corruption happens because there is impunity. That's the reason why corruption is widespread at all levels - from the person who asks for a bribe on the street to those who hold prominent positions.

Where the grifter is shameless, the grafter shrinks from exposure, which could only endanger the racket. He is greedy but not creatively ambitious. He toils in mundane self-dealing, insider trading, bribe taking, witness tampering, and other forms of workaday corruption.

Corrupt officials are usually close-mouthed and open-handed.

It is awful hard to get people interested in corruption unless they can get some of it.