by Jim Moss
Watercooler – United States Falls To All-Time Low In Corruption Rankings
7:13 pm in Culture, Government by Jim Moss
Stencil art found on wall in Washington, DC. (photo: IntangibleArts via Flickr)
We’re not as bad as Somalia and Afghanistan, but we’re not that good, either – according to the annual rankings of national corruption done by the Berlin-based group TI:
The United States fell to 22nd from 19th last year, with its CPI score dropping to 7.1 from 7.5 in the 178-nation index, which is based on independent surveys on corruption.
This was the lowest score awarded to the United States in the index’s 15-year history and also the first time it had fallen out of the top 20.
In the Americas, this put the United States behind Canada in sixth place, Barbados at 17th and Chile in 21st place.
Jointly heading the index — in which a score of 10 indicates a country with the highest standards, and 0 as highly corrupt — were Denmark, New Zealand and Singapore with 9.3. They were also at the top of the table last year.
Somalia scored 1.1. The watchdog group said its table was based on “different assessments and business opinion surveys carried out by independent and reputable institutions.”
Anyone care to place a wager on where we’ll stand in another 15 years?
What’s on your mind tonight?
