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Bribing

The reason why it took two years to build the school building was we never bribed. OK, from time to time, we bought lunch for the police who protected the land from various mobs the slumlord sent around. But we never "bribed with cash." Not even to get an electricity connection. You can imagine how crazed this made my Indian staff. They had to spend long hours explaining their "crazy American" to other Indians. I carried around a copy of the 1978 Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and pulled it out from time to time. I talked about getting deported if I bribed. I got the impression some people did get a giggle out of the theatrics. Anything to amuse my bureaucrats!

In the developing world, NGOs are vulnerable. They require either political godfathers or they have to bribe. This article is a great example of this: http://yoomilee.wordpress.com/2007/09/10/the-unwelcome-costs-of-running-an-ngo-in-india/


If I didn't already have the greatest job in the world (thanks, Marin!) I would sign up for work with Transparency International. Their reports make sense of the costs of corruption.

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