(July 15): Corruption has enormous economic and social costs and consequences. A low level of corruption is the most certain way to generate sustainable long-term economic growth for the benefit of the people.
Corruption exacts a transaction cost on economic activities, a cost of doing business that leads to inflated prices for goods and services. It gives unfair advantages to rent-seeking businesses, which will grow rapidly but only enrich the few and provide little overall benefit to the economy.
Oftentimes, such abuse of power ends up creating monopolies and oligopolies, while stifling competition, innovation and entrepreneurship. Legitimate businesses cannot win unless they play the same game, which undermines the rule of law and leads to loss of confidence and low foreign and domestic investments. All this is detrimental to a country’s productivity and capacity for jobs creation and future growth.
