UN International Anti-Corruption Day

I missed it! It was on December 9th. Gee, I wonder how the MSM couldda missed it too; if Enron had held a "Fairness In Accounting" day, I'm sure they wouldda caught that one. I hope we'll see a UN International Anti-Irony Day next, as the problem is getting serious.

As for the Anti-Corruption Day itself, here's what we learned:

The 2004 report is based a public opinion survey of 50,000 people from 64 countries, conducted between June and September of this year. Through the survey, Transparency International tries to determine which public and private institutions are most corruptive and which corrupt behaviors carry the most impact. More than 10 percent of those surveyed had paid a bribe. Cameroon topped the list, with 52 percent of respondents admitting to having paid a bribe. The rate was 36 percent in Kenya, and 32 percent in Lithuania, Moldova, and Nigeria. In the United Kingdom and Ireland, only 1 percent of surveyed people had paid a bribe, while the US was the only surveyed country where less than 1 percent of respondents admitted to having ever paid a bribe.

The difference is the free market, where people can vote with their feet. You want a bribe? Hey, buddy, not if we don't have to deal with you.