child poverty Neil Moralee/Flickr

Fighting Corruption Won’t End Poverty

On his recent trip to Latin America, Pope Francis declared that the corrupt deserve to be “tied to a rock and cast into the sea.” Perhaps they do; but that won’t necessarily make their countries more prosperous.

CAMBRIDGE – Countries are poor because governments are corrupt. And, unless they ensure that public resources are not stolen, and that public power is not used for private gain, they will remain poor, right?

It certainly is tempting to believe so. Here, after all, is a narrative that neatly aligns the promise of prosperity with the struggle against injustice. As Pope Francis said on his recent trip to Latin America: “corruption is the moth, the gangrene of a people.” The corrupt deserve to be “tied to a rock and cast into the sea.”

Perhaps they do. But that won’t necessarily make their countries more prosperous.

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