

How an Indian Entrepreneur Learned to Love Paying Bribes - ImFatYoureFat
http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2010/04/how_an_indian_businessman_lear.html?ft=1&f=1001

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mnemonicsloth
Another perspective, the Zero Rupee note:

<http://boingboing.net/2010/02/05/zero-rupee-note-that.html>

[http://blogs.worldbank.org/publicsphere/paying-zero-
public-s...](http://blogs.worldbank.org/publicsphere/paying-zero-public-
services)

tldr: just calling out a bribe-taker in the right way can change their
behavior.

------
henrikschroder
"This may be more rational than it seems. In some cases, bribes may make
economies work better, says Rema Hanna, a Harvard economist."

I'm sorry, what? Bribes are a symptom of broken government where government
workers have a lot of authority to _do_ things, but no incentive to do the
_right_ thing.

~~~
falsestprophet
"I'm sorry, what?"

I think you are missing the point. Rema Hanna, the economist quoted in the
article, is not championing bribes as the optimal solution.

She is simply observing that some systems that are not efficient can become
more efficient as the result of bribes.

So you can read that quote as: _"In some cases [including cases of broken
governments where government workers have a lot of authority to do things but
no incentive to do the right thing], bribes may make economies work better."_

~~~
alextp
She's apparently saying the most trivial statement possible about bribes: if
nothing works the way it should but something will work if you bribe someone,
then bribing these people will make these things work. Well, duh.

~~~
billybob
Exactly. And I think there's a corollary: If officials can get bribes for
doing something, they WON'T do it WITHOUT a bribe. So nothing will work the
way it should. Bribes perpetuate the same red tape problem they appear to
"solve."

Her statement is like saying "what you need is some alcohol to help you deal
with the pain of your alcoholism."

Seriously, corruption is maybe the worst possible thing for a country's
economy. This article argues that it's the single biggest reason why poor
countries are poor. And it's a hard problem to solve.
[http://reason.com/archives/2006/03/01/why-poor-countries-
are...](http://reason.com/archives/2006/03/01/why-poor-countries-are-
poor/print)

~~~
alextp
Although it can be solved. Let me preface this by saying that I usually
dislike privatization of public utilities. When I moved from Salvador to São
Paulo, one of the biggest differences I saw was in the cartórios (civil
registry offices, I guess; it's a place you go to when you want you signature
oficially recognized or other bureaucratic tasks like that). Back in Salvador,
where they are public, bribes are the only way to get anything done. Real
state agents, for example, hire "despachantes" to bribe the right people in
the "cartório" so they can make real state deals in a reasonable amount of
time. Here in são paulo the cartórios are private and there is competition, so
they are very efficient, and bribeless.

I guess what I want to say is that bribes usually come from giving too much
power to someone. If there is a surrounding structure stopping any single
person from deviating too much from the rules it gets very hard to bribe
anyone.

------
wisty
One brilliant comment from the article - that he loves bribes now that he is
established, and the pay-wall locks out upstart competitors.

~~~
patrickgzill
Same thing happens in the USA, even in Pennsylvania.

You hire a bunch of people, then after a few years, you can get money from the
state on a per-employee basis to keep your people here and not move to say,
Ohio. The startup business does not have such access to those funds. So your
per-employee costs drop but the startup's costs do not.

------
crazydiamond
People like him make it tougher for the common man to survive, because we all
have to pay bribes or nothing is done. Poor, or old or retired people are
forced to pay bribes for basic amenities. We have to pay a bribe to get our
income tax +++return+++. My old mother (78) was hospitalized and had to pay a
bribe to get her insurance money. The list is endless.

For the last month, we've been out of +water+. This is because all the
neighboring houses have an illegal connection which pulls the water from the
main line. Of course, they've paid a bribe for it.

Its not funny, and its not fun. And it does not make the economy go smoother,
_except_ for the rich.

~~~
hellweaver666
Surely if everyone is paying bribes it's no longer a bribe but just an
accepted way of oiling the cogs?

~~~
mallipeddi
Well if everyone starts paying the bribe and if there are limited resources,
then sooner or later the bribe amount is going to adjust itself to reflect the
supply and demand.

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joubert
I was shocked when I first learned that German companies, as late as 10 years
ago or so, could deduct from taxes the foreign bribes they paid.

~~~
Tichy
I was shocked when I heard that it became illegal. How is a country supposed
to compete in foreign markets then? All it means is that now other countries
and companies will do business in those countries where bribes are required.

Also, I think bribes might still play a big role even in supposedly
"civilized" countries. People just find other ways to bribe and make gifts.

------
known
If you wanted to do business hire a local politician who'll do the leg work
for you.

------
psranga
Ironic last line:

    
    
        "Now he spends most of his time drawing",
    

because an earlier line was:

    
    
        "He hated it it ... he wanted to be an artist.
        Paying bribes went against his principles, he says".

