Economic Gangsters: Corruption, Violence and the Poverty of Nations

Meet the economic gangster. HeΓÇÖs the United Nations diplomat who double parks his Mercedes on a New York street at rush hour, because the cops canΓÇÖt touch him-he has diplomatic immunity. HeΓÇÖs the dictator, the warlord, the black marketeers, the unscrupulous bureaucrat who bilks the developing world of billions of aidΓÇöand keeps many communities in a cycle of violence and poverty. We can stop this waste of resources as we follow the foreign aid money trail, and find solutions that can make tremendous difference to the developing world, solutions that can range from cash infusions to diffuse violence in times of drought to guiding the World Bank away from programs most susceptible to corruption. Economic data, often found in unexpected places, can become potent tools in understanding how the global market really works and what is getting in the way of economic progress.