But how do we know that money is not being pilfered by all sorts of nefarious actors in business, bureaucracy, and politics? The ancient adage that money is the root of all evil may be a tad overused by moralizers, but it is quite plain that the sudden flow of lots of public money amidst the chaos of an emergency brings out the innate human desire for personal enrichment for too many mortals. Fortunately, for most representative democracies, strong oversight institutions in the legislature, independent audit mechanisms, and a robust free press act as checks, albeit not foolproof ones, on the avarice of the wicked. Are there, then, any non-traditional tools of scrutiny that can step in to at least partially fill the void? Common sense dictates Bangladesh should not tempt that fate again; we have already been asked, in a previous generation: “Who pilfered the blankets?” A stimulus for economic recovery should not be a stimulus to personal corruption.

Source: Dhaka Tribune May 08, 2020 11:48 UTC