Big Fish 102 - April showers will come, so they say...

Global Integrity

New index, everybody! Okay, it's not new, but it is a pretty cool one. This combines numerical data and stats with perceptions to create one of the most complete pictures of corruption in country that I've seen yet. One of the bits I *really* like is that the site lets you break all the stats down to their roots, very cool. They also have what they call a Reporter's Journal for each country that is written by a well-respected journalist and describes the situation from a first-hand point of view. For example, from Pakistan:

Pakistan's leading anti-corruption agency, the National Accountability Bureau, has pinpointed the major causes of corruption in the society. These include, among others, flagrant abuse of power, non-compliance with the law, absence of an effective anti-corruption mechanism, political leaders' incompetence, lack of transparency in the government's decision-making process, cumbersome procedures in the executive system and weaknesses in the judicial system. All of these have hindered the development of proper ethical and business standards for the public and private sectors.

Sheesh, no wonder the country's a mess. Anyways, check it out.