????世界各國(guó)的人都意識(shí)到了腐敗的問(wèn)題。

????蓋洛普最近的一項(xiàng)民意調(diào)查顯示，2006-2013年期間，持有“腐敗是政府內(nèi)普遍現(xiàn)象”觀念的美國(guó)人已從59%上升至79%，而另一項(xiàng)調(diào)查顯示，219個(gè)國(guó)家中有108個(gè)國(guó)家的大部分民眾都贊成這一觀點(diǎn)。

????經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家雅各布?斯文森對(duì)腐敗的定義是：為私利而濫用公共權(quán)力。根據(jù)這一定義，我們很容易找到人們對(duì)腐敗深?lèi)和唇^的原因，因?yàn)檫@種行為竊取的是大家共有的資源。一旦腐敗大行其道，它對(duì)社會(huì)造成的影響將是毀滅性的。在《經(jīng)濟(jì)展望期刊》（Journal of Economic Perspectives）上刊載的一篇論文中，斯文森就腐敗對(duì)于經(jīng)濟(jì)的影響調(diào)查了相關(guān)文獻(xiàn)，結(jié)果發(fā)現(xiàn)影響會(huì)非常嚴(yán)重。他寫(xiě)道，國(guó)家的財(cái)富與腐敗程度之間是強(qiáng)烈的反比關(guān)系，而且腐敗往往損害的是社會(huì)中最貧苦人的利益。斯文森還列舉了多個(gè)近些年來(lái)惡名昭彰的類(lèi)似案例。

????“據(jù)保守估計(jì)，扎伊爾前總統(tǒng)蒙博托?塞塞?塞科（Mobutu Sese Seko）侵吞了國(guó)庫(kù)約50億美元的資金……據(jù)稱，印尼前總統(tǒng)默罕默德?蘇哈托（Mohamed Suharto）和菲律賓前總統(tǒng)費(fèi)迪南德?馬科斯（Ferdinand Marcos）所挪用的資金是蒙博托的兩倍和七倍……國(guó)際貨幣基金組織內(nèi)部報(bào)告稱，僅2001年一年，近10億美元的石油儲(chǔ)量或人均77美元的財(cái)富從安哥拉國(guó)庫(kù)蒸發(fā)了，是安哥拉2001年收到的人道主義援助資金的三倍。然而，這個(gè)國(guó)家四分之三的民眾每天的生活費(fèi)都不到1美元，而且1/3的兒童都活不過(guò)5歲?！?/p>

????當(dāng)然，大多數(shù)腐敗都遠(yuǎn)沒(méi)有達(dá)到上述的這種瘋狂程度，而且有時(shí)候，腐敗的出現(xiàn)反而會(huì)帶來(lái)公正的結(jié)果。哥倫比亞大學(xué)政治中心副教授克里斯?布拉特曼（Chris Blattman）稱，這也可能是經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家們?yōu)槭裁礇](méi)能把不同程度的腐敗與經(jīng)濟(jì)增長(zhǎng)率掛鉤的原因。盡管腐敗程度越低，財(cái)富總量就會(huì)越多，但是鮮有證據(jù)證明，腐敗放緩了經(jīng)濟(jì)的增長(zhǎng)步伐。布拉特曼寫(xiě)道：

????“為什么會(huì)出現(xiàn)這種情況？原因之一：大多數(shù)人都想象不出，腐敗對(duì)于為經(jīng)濟(jì)繁榮齒輪的運(yùn)轉(zhuǎn)來(lái)說(shuō)具有潤(rùn)滑劑作用。而在某些效率低下的官僚機(jī)構(gòu)（意味著企業(yè)家和大公司在運(yùn)輸、出口或遵守相關(guān)法規(guī)方面感到很吃力），腐敗可以提升效率，促進(jìn)經(jīng)濟(jì)增長(zhǎng)。行賄就像是計(jì)件工資或價(jià)格歧視，對(duì)于那些等待機(jī)會(huì)成本頗高的公司來(lái)說(shuō)，它能帶來(lái)更快或更好的服務(wù)?！?/p>

????那么這種看似良性的腐敗是否也對(duì)美國(guó)有幫助呢？在《紐約客》雜志上周刊載的一篇文章中，馬爾科姆?格萊德維爾認(rèn)為有幫助，而且沒(méi)必要將其稱之為腐敗。他在文章中將20世紀(jì)早期的意大利黑手黨和如今城市中的有組織犯罪進(jìn)行了比較。格萊德維爾認(rèn)為，在整個(gè)美國(guó)歷史進(jìn)程中，一波又一波的移民被拒之門(mén)外，無(wú)法接觸到原本可以幫助其過(guò)上體面生活的那些機(jī)制，而且一旦發(fā)生這種情況，這些群體就會(huì)訴諸于犯罪，也就是社會(huì)學(xué)家詹姆斯?歐肯所說(shuō)的“扭曲的梯子”（the crooked ladder）。

????Americans, and citizens around the world, have corruption on the mind.

????A recent Gallup poll showed that from 2006 to 2013, the percentage of Americans who believe “corruption is widespread throughout the government” has increased from 59% to 79%, while a separate poll showed that majorities in 108 of 129 countries agree.

????Economist Jakob Svensson has defined corruption as the misuse of public office for private gain and, by this definition, it’s easy to see why it upsets us so much, as it constitutes a theft of resources that belong to all of us. And when corruption is widespread, it can have devastating effects on a society. In a paper published in the Journal of Economic Perspectives, Svensson surveys the literature on the economic effects of corruption, and they can be severe. He notes that there is a strong negative correlation between the wealth of a nation and its level of corruption, and that this corruption often harms the poorest in a society. Svensson offers several recent examples of such egregious malfeasance:

????“A conservative estimate is that the former President of Zaire, Mobutu Sese Seko, looted the treasury of some $5 billion…. The funds allegedly embezzled by the former presidents of Indonesia and Philippines, Mohamed Suharto and Ferdinand Marcos, are estimated to be two and seven times higher…. An internal IMF report found that nearly $1 billion of oil reserves, or $77 per capita, vanished from the Angolan state coffers in 2001 alone. This was about three times the value of the humanitarian aid received by Angola in 2001—in a country where three-quarters of the population survives on less than $1 a day and where one in three children die before the age of five.”

????Of course, most corruption is nowhere near as outrageous, and there are times when the presence of corruption can actually lead to just outcomes. According to Chris Blattman, an associate professor of political science at Columbia University, this might be why economists have not been able to link levels of corruption to growth rates. While overall wealth is associated with lower levels of corruption, there is very little evidence that corruption leads to slower economic growth. Writes Blattman:

????“Why might this be so? One reason: Most of us fail to imagine that corruption can also grease the wheels of prosperity. Yet in places where bureaucracies and organizations are inefficient (meaning entrepreneurs and big firms struggle to transport or export or comply with regulation), corruption could improve efficiency and growth. Bribes can act like a piece rate or price discrimination, and give faster or better service to the firms with highest opportunity cost of waiting.”

????Could this seemingly benign corruption be helpful in the U.S.? In an article in this week’s New Yorker, Malcolm Gladwell, without necessarily calling it corruption, argues it could, as he compares the Italian Mafia of the early 20th century with organized crime in cities today. Gladwell argues that throughout American history, waves of immigrants were denied access to the sorts of institutions that would have enabled upward mobility, and when that happened, these groups turned to crime, what sociologist James O’Kane calls “the crooked ladder.”