Biden endorses a damn good anti-corruption plan
One thing that tends to annoy foreigners is U.S. officials’ habit of criticizing them for things that are done more egregiously in the United States. I have heard this firsthand – and, at length – from the leaders of small Caribbean jurisdiction, which have been forced to radically reform their own financial systems under pressure from Washington, while individual states in the U.S. have continued to market schemes worse than anything they ever attempted, and who are really annoyed about it. The leaders won’t go on the record with their objections because they fear that would be like painting a big target on their economies, which – to my mind – makes the hypocrisy even worse.
Some examples: U.S. shell companies are appallingly regulated, and an open goal for money launderers to abuse, as revealed by multiple investigations; U.S. fine art dealers can get away with stuff their European counterparts cannot; U.S. lawyers can move money around without any of the tiresome regulations faced even somewhere as wide-open to scams as London. Most people with even a passing knowledge of how corruption works are aware of this and find being lectured by U.S. politicians rather vexing as a result.
So, credit where it’s due: the White House’s decision to make combating corruption a national security priority is important, and the new strategy, as announced this week, is good. If all of what is laid out here can be achieved, then foreigners will have precious few reasons to grouse.
This is a thoughtful, thorough, coherent, and achievable framework for the country to act within. Yes, there are various references to the need to work with Congress (I was particularly excited to see a proposal to “criminalize the demand side of bribery by foreign public officials,” which would be a game-changer), which will presumably get stuck in the congressional quagmire should the mid-terms not go the Democrats’ way. But there is lots here that could genuinely make a difference, particularly as a rallying cry for Western countries currently at each other’s throats over things like fish.