Corporations & Politics Getting More Corrupt

Nation of change – The United States is getting more corrupt. So says Transparency International, which ranks the country the 16th least-corrupt in the world in 2001. By last year, the United States fell back to 24th place.

Why is corruption spreading? A recent New York Times story fingers everything from globalization to rising income inequality, as well as the growing role of corporate money in political campaigns. Yet, while corporations are spending more than ever on political campaigns, we’ve also recently seen a noticeable uptick in corporate corruption scandals.

Have corporations lost whatever ethical compass they once had? Are Americans even remotely surprised by the misconduct of the financial industry?

That’s what the New York Times asks, in light of the Libor-Barclays scandal. What does it mean when one of the world’s leading banks attempts to manipulate an incredibly important interest rate — and we barely blink? Read more