What are bribery and corruption?

The same justifications and excuses for bribery and corruption, like other white collar crimes, are heard time and time again. “Everybody does it”, “it’s a cost of doing business”, “it doesn’t really matter”, “nobody gets hurt”. This is not true. The corruption of public or private officials and decision makers, and the payment of bribes, raise serious moral and political concerns. These are not victimless crimes, and in fact exact a heavy economic and social cost. Bribery and corruption create an unlevel playing field for honest businesses, and cut deep into the social fabric of developed and developing countries alike. They can translate into inferior and dangerous products allowed onto the market place, substandard building materials used in infrastructure projects that can endanger people’s health and welfare, and the diversion of vital money required for education, health and welfare services. In the end, we all pay the bill.