[ap-intact] COMMENTARY: Flipping the corruption myth

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"Transparency International recently published their latest annual Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), laid out in an eye-catching map of the world with the least corrupt nations coded in happy yellow and the most corrupt nations smeared in stigmatising red.

"When I first saw this map I was struck by the fact that most of the yellow areas happen to be rich Western countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom, whereas red covers almost the entirety of the global South, with countries like South Sudan, Afghanistan, and Somalia daubed especially dark.

"This geographical division fits squarely with mainstream views, which see corruption as the scourge of the developing world (cue cliché images of dictators in Africa and bribery in India). But is this storyline accurate?"

Read the full op-ed by Dr Jason Hickel, who lectures at the London School of Economics, in Al Jazeera. http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2014/01/flipping-corruption-myth-201412094213280135.html

Links:

http://cpi.transparency.org/cpi2013/results/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corruption_Perceptions_Index

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