The science of bribery

Written By Unknown on Minggu, 15 Februari 2015 | 20.49

The New York Times got it exactly right.

Unfortunately, this was way back in 1877.

We refer to a Times dispatch from Aug. 11 of that year. It appeared under the headline "The Building Department: Its rottenness exposed."

The story described the city's Building Department this way: "That department has long been regarded as a mere refuge for rapacious politicians, who furnished no equivalent services for the salaries they received, and, in its present condition, its abolition would be a public benefit."

Ira Stoll at the FutureofCapitalism.com referred us to the Times story. He had cited it in a post about the most recent Buildings Department scandal, in which nearly a dozen of its people have been charged with accepting bribes in exchange for building permits or favorable inspections or the like.

Some of the bribes show imagination. They include a holiday in Puerto Rico, tuition for a summer course for one official's daughter, an SUV — and, of course, the old standby: cash.

Now, it's easy to look at the two Times stories on corruption at the Buildings Department — one from 1877 and one from 2015 — and conclude things haven't changed. Indeed they haven't, human nature being what it is.

But the larger point Stoll makes strikes us as the better one: This city would be far better off if we recognized that every regulation creates an opening for corruption by giving officials something they can sell or use to shake us down, especially when we can't move ahead without it.

The 1877 Times understood this dynamic. Here's how it described it:

"It is said that the facilities for extortion are more extensive in the Department of Buildings than in any other; in fact, a builder is completely at its mercy. His plans are subject to the approval of the Inspector, and the Department . . . may interpret the law as they please.

Builders have long since become painfully aware of the fact that they must yield to the pecuniary demands of a little tribe of sharks."

In short, the Times figured out that regulation give regular the power to shake people down. As we learned from the latest arrests at the Buildings, Department, it's as true today as it was then.


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