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"Behind each big (massive) fortune lies a big crime"
Percieved World Corruption Map
quoted from Harlan Cobens Thriller, entitled Promise me _ Promets -moi in the french version I have just finished reading. The remark is attributed to Coben's character, The Big Jake, on page 305 edition pocket (Fr)
I must admit that, such a thought, stated so succinctly, had until now, occured to me, at least not consciously.
Assuming Coben's remark is not a reflection on his own revenue I shall take the remark litteraly and in doing so little did I suspect that the subject is a HOT TOPIC INDEED.
Fact or Fiction
The apparently outrageousness of such a statement shocked me into thought. How far is such a statement true?
I believe that I have a scientific mind and as such facts, evidence must be acquired.
From recent memory what evidence could I muster up?
Numerous cases of dictatorships: for example from recent revolutions in norther africa-The Magreb: Lybia of Gaddafit(1,2), Tunisia of Sidi Bouazid(3,4,5) Egypt's Mubarak, (6,7) and lately Syria's "Marie Antoinette" (8) came rapidly to mind and are references below [1 to 8]
and what about the rest of Africa, most of us from memory can remember a few scandelous and bloody examples: Idi Amin Dada, in Uganda and Jean-Bedel Bokassa (president of Central African Republic) [9,10 ]
The length of my first lists are becoming uncumfortably long [ 11 to 17 and far from exaustive!]
In Europe of course Vladimir Putin is a prime suspect.
What about the corruptors [ Ouch!]
Richard Drayton: The wealth of the west was built on Africa's ...
www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2005/aug/20/past.hearafrica05
20 Aug 2005 – Richard Drayton: The wealth of the west was built on Africa's exploitation ... As Malachy Postlethwayt, the political economist, candidly put it in 1745: ... For the colonial Americas were more Africa's creation than Europe's: ...The Roman Catholic Church does not escape indem
Effects of the Crusades
www.middle-ages.org.uk/effects-of-crusades.htm
The Crusades contributed to increase the wealth of the Church and the power of ... The crusades could not fail to affect in many ways the life of western Europe. ... As to thepolitical effects of the Crusades, they helped to break down the power ...Google Search Key: Wealth and Politicians Corruption in Western Europe
It rapidly becomes obvious that Political corruption is a central figure in this theme
Corruption And Democracy: Political Finances, Conflicts of ... - Google Books Result
books.google.fr/books?isbn=9287163553...Council of Europe. Octopus Programme - 2008 - Law - 218 pages
Those who have greater wealth can purchase a greater voice in the outcome of the public ... but is also controversial in the established democracies of western Europe. ...Other types of political finances are clearly illegal and corrupt.79 These ...- [PDF]
COMPETITIVE CORRUPTION Factional Conflict and Political ...
politics.as.nyu.edu/docs/IO/4756/golden2.pdfFile Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - Quick View
by MA GOLDEN - 2001 - Cited by 93 - Related articles
litical corruption in a democratic context occurs despite a wealth of ..... Carbó, eds.,Political Corruption in Europe and Latin America (Bassingstoke: Macmillan, ...Political Parties in Italy: A Case of Systemic Corruption,” West European Politics ... Political and Governmental Corruption
edu.learnsoc.org/.../19%20politics/Everyone knows what political corruption is, but it is notoriously hard to define. .....Italy is probably considered the most corrupt country in western Europe. .... Marcos bullied wealthy families into giving up their holdings to his family and friends....
Dances with Thieves - By Anne Applebaum | Foreign Policy
www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/01/12/dances_with_thieves
12 Jan 2012 – If the West is really serious about combating corruption in the rest of the world, it can ... cost Russian taxpayers in lost income, jobs, and national wealth? ...And neither the British legal system, nor the British political system, cares ... West Europeans, that is, with a large dose of Eastern Europeans on hand to ...
Wealth, Business and Corruption
(TBD)
Délits d'initiés
THE GREAT PARDON
Guns, Germs, and Steel - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guns,_Germs,_and_Steel
Other peoples, after having thrown off colonial domination, still lag in wealth and power... He believes this is due to the societies' military and political advantages, ... Europewas the ultimate beneficiary of Eurasia's East-West orientation: in the ...
Western Civilization: Ideas, Politics, and Society | Chapter 21: The ...
college.cengage.com/history/west/perry/western.../chapter21.html
190+ items – Western Civilization: Ideas, Politics, and Society, Ninth ...
EXCEPTIONS (which confirm the rule?)
-Lottery winners (collusion)
-Genuine Inventors, and busness phillanthropists
NB few or no Nobel Prize winners enter the Forbes Top Wealthy
North Africa
Readers comments particularily appreciated - especially to balance what my blog must appear as stongly biased in the fight Good vs Bad!!
1. Libya News - Revolution and Aftermath (2011)
2. The $200 Billion Gaddafi Fortune: A Good Percentage is Owed to ...
Tunisia
3.Ben Ali sentenced to 35 years in jail | World news | guardian.co.uk
www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jun/.../ben-ali-sentenced-35-years-j...
20 Jun 2011 – Former Tunisian president, Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, found guilty of theft... deceived into leaving Tunisia, has accumulated vast wealth from his ...4. How Tunisia's revolution began - Features - Al Jazeera English
5. Tunisian revolution claims victim in French cabinet as foreign minister quits
Egypt of Mubarak
6.
Ben Ali's fortune and the Mubarak network: A misleading parallel ...
| |
| www.france24.com/.../20110208-ben-ali-fortune-tunis...7 Feb 2011 | |
7. Estimates Of Hosni Mubarak's Extreme Wealth Appear Exaggerated ...
www.forbes.com/.../estimates-of-hosni-mubaraks-extreme-wealth-ap...
7 Feb 2011 – ABC News and The Guardian have run stories putting Mubarak's wealthas high as $70 billion. The Forbes wealth team finds this to be highly ...Syria
Syrian Refugees in Libya Compare Notes on Twin Uprisings
8. Syria's "Marie Antoinette"
Asma al-Assad, Syria's Marie Antoinette - The Washington Post ...
www.washingtonpost.com/...syrias-marie-antoinette/.../gIQAbb5sXS_...
24 Mar 2012 – While bloodshed continues, she shops for crystal-encrusted shoes.
BLACK-AFRICA
9. Biography: Idi Amin Dada
africanhistory.about.com/od/biography/a/bio_amin.htm
Idi Amin, who became known as the 'Butcher of Uganda' for his brutal, despotic rule whilst president of Uganda in the 1970s, is possibly the most notorious of all ... cf. also recent references BLACK-AFRICA below?
10. BBC NEWS | Africa | 'Good old days' under Bokassa?
www.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7803421.stm
2 Jan 2009 – The BBC's Mike Thomson goes in search of the man history calls one of Africa's most bloodthirsty monsters.
BLACK-AFRICA RECENT REFERENCES
11. Rich Presidents of Poor Nations: An African Story of Oil and Capital ...
www.truth-out.org/rich-presidents-poor...african.../1330443407
28 Feb 2012 – As corrupt African leaders accumulate wealth, the African people are saddled with debts and watch helplessly as their natural resource
12. France probes African leaders' wealth - News - Mail & Guardian Online
mg.co.za/article/2010-11-15-france-probes-african-leaders-wealth
15 Nov 2010 – Three African leaders and their families are to be investigated in Paris for allegedly embezzling state funds to acquire vast assets in France.
13.
African leaders urged to spread the wealth | Reuters
uk.reuters.com/.../05/.../idUKLDE64O0I2._CH_.24... - United Kingdom
25 May 2010 – China and other emerging economies having big impact * Governments told to come clean about mineral deals By Ed Cropley ...14. Oil wealth can't enhance development –World Bank ... - African Leader
6 Mar 2012 ... By African Leader, New York City and Punch. The Vice President (Africa), WorldBank, Dr Oby Ezekwesili, has warned the nation's leaders ...
15. Who Were Africa's Richest Dictators? - Forbes
8 Nov 2011 ... The richest men in Africa in recent history may well have been some of its... The
Billionaire Who's Squandering His Wealth On African Leaders ...
16. African leaders who have voraciously stolen national wealth are to ...
16 Feb 2012 ... Transparency International wants all African leaders who have voraciously stolen
national wealth from their respective countries removed from ...
17. Who Are The Richest Presidents Of Africa?
... the fact a lot of presidents in Africa will not reveal their wealth.
Délits d'initiés (FR expression for Manipulating the markets
(sorry I did not realise I had slipped into French)
18 Délits d'initiés, manipulations de marchés : ce que prépare la ...
lecercle.lesechos.fr/node/39964 - Translate this page
14 nov. 2011 – LE CERCLE. La Commission Européenne souhaite renforcer la répression des délits d'initiés, et de nombreux autres abus de marché tels que ...
19. Enquête sur un vaste délit d'initié à Wall Street
www.lemonde.fr/.../enquete-sur-un-vaste-delit-d-i... - Translate this page
25 nov. 2010 – La justice américaine met la touche finale à une enquête de trois ans pour délit d'
REFERENCES FOR FURTHER STUDY
CORRUPTION PERCEPTION
Corruption And The Global Financial Crisis Forbes Mag (my altenative title:THE BIG BOYS beat the SMALL FRY)
Daniel Kaufmann 01.27.09, 2:58 PM ET
Daniel Kaufmann 01.27.09, 2:58 PM ET
"It would be very convenient to start this article by stating that corruption is a challenge mainly for public officials in developing countries and that it is unrelated to the current global crisis.
I also wish I could claim that corruption has declined worldwide as a result of the global anti-corruption and awareness-raising campaign, the many effective anti-corruption commissions, and the recognition that poverty and culture are the reasons why corruption prevails.
But none of it is true."
"In truth, anti corruption commissions, revised laws and
awareness-raising campaigns have had limited success. Focus on petty or
administrative bribery has been misplaced at the expense of high-level
political corruption."
Kaufmann writes in his blog about ideas, findings, current events and initiatives on Governance, Corruption and Capture, around the world.
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