Flipping the corruption myth

John Christensen

Published:

4 February 2014

Reading time:

< 1

Category:

Financial secrecy ↘ Inequality and human rights ↘ Tax havens ↘

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TJN has previously challenged the prevailing discourse on corruption; and we have taken particular issue with Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), which looks at corruption through a highly distorted prism. In this article published by Al Jazeera, Jason Hickel of the London School of Economics takes up the theme, asking questions such as: “With the City of London at the centre of the global tax haven web, how does the UK end up with a clean CPI?” Fair point, and one we have posed to Transparency International on more than one occasion.

We think the CPI should be buried, and offer – as alternative – an entirely different geography of corruption which focuses on the supply side of financial market secrecy.

Read Hickel’s article in its entirety, and note his concluding comments:

Corruption is a major driver of poverty, to be sure. But if we are to be serious about tackling this problem, the CPI map will not be much help. The biggest cause of poverty in developing countries is not localised bribery and theft, but the corruption that is endemic to the global governance system, the tax haven network, and the banking sectors of New York and London. It’s time to flip the corruption myth on its head and start demanding transparency where it counts.

The author

John Christensen

Trained as a forensic auditor and economist, John has worked in many countries around the world, including a period of working in offshore financial services with Touche Ross & Co. For 11 years he was economic adviser to the government of the British Channel Island of Jersey. In 2003 he became what the Guardian has described as “the unlikely figurehead of a worldwide campaign against tax avoidance.” His research on offshore finance has been widely published in books and academic journals, and John has taken part in many films, television documentaries and radio programmes. John can be contacted on +44 (0) 7979 868302.

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