IT’S NOT JUST UNSCAM:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Corrupt use of World Bank funds may exceed $100 billion and while the institution has moved to combat the problem, more must be done, the chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee said on Thursday.

Sen. Richard Lugar, an Indiana Republican, charged that “in its starkest terms, corruption has cost the lives of uncounted individuals contending with poverty and disease.” . . .

Jeffrey Winters, an associate professor at Northwestern University, said his research suggested corruption wasted about $100 billion of World Bank funds, and when other multilateral development banks are included, the total rises to about $200 billion.

I hope this story gets the attention it deserves.

UPDATE: Stephen Green makes an important point:

Corrupt Enron went broke, allowing reputable firms to have their markets and workers. That’s how capitalism functions. The World Bank, of course, has no such restraints on its behavior.

Indeed.