Corruption Quote by Charles P. Kindleberger

““In Chapter 5 we consider swindles and defalcations. It happens that crashes and panics often are precipitated by the revelation of some misfeasance, malfeasance, or malversation (the corruption of officials) engendered during the mania. It seems clear from the historical record that swindles are a response to the greedy appetite for wealth stimulated by the boom. And as the monetary system gets stretched, institutions lose liquidity, and unsuccessful swindles are about to be revealed, the temptation to take the money and run becomes virtually irresistible. It is difficult to write on this subject without permitting the typewriter to drip with irony. An attempt will be made.””

Charles P. Kindleberger

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Debasement was limited at first to one’s own territory. It was then found that one could do better by taking bad coins across the border of neighboring municipalities and exchanging them for good with ignorant common people, bringing back the good coins and debasing them again. More and more mints were established. Debasement accelerated in hyper-fashion until a halt was…

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Money is a public good; as such, it lends itself to private exploitation.

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The period of financial distress is a gradual decline after the peak of a speculative bubble that precedes the final and massive panic and…

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“This book is an essay in what is derogatorily called "literary economics," as opposed to mathematical economics, econometrics, or (embracing them both) the "new…

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The propensity to swindle grows parallel with the propensity to speculate during a boom the implosion of an asset price bubble always leads to…

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Much of the profession is empirically bankrupt because it is no longer taught economic history.

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What matters to us is the revelation of the swindle, fraud, or defalcation. This makes known to the world that things have not been…

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There is nothing so disturbing to one's well-being and judgment as to see a friend get rich

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The first derivative is the last refuge of a scoundrel.

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