Evidently FEMA money leads to increasing corruption at the state and local level. There are a number of articles on this phenomenon. People want to help hurting people, but just throwing government money in does not appear to be the best way to accomplish this!
From Science Daily: "We find each $100 of FEMA-provided disaster relief increases the average state's corruption by nearly 102 percent," write Peter Leeson (George Mason) and Russell Sobel (West Virginia U.). Leeson's article can be read here.
Hurricane Katrina and corruption.
The Economist: Help from FEMA encourages graft in many ways. Public officials can embezzle cash directly; they can overstate peoples' damage claims in return for a bribe, or demand kick-backs for rebuilding contracts. All told, the impact is big. The authors' calculations suggest that in the average state, an extra $1 per person in money from FEMA increases corruption in that state by 2.5%. Eliminating FEMA relief entirely would cut corruption by more than 20% in the average state. But don't hold your breath.
No comments:
Post a Comment