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By Bruce Einhorn

Unlucky 13 on 'Grand Corruption' List

Might the financial crisis lead to more corruption around the world? That's one of the biggest worries of Nathaniel Heller, an antigraft activist in Washington. Heller, 31, a former official at the State Dept., is managing director of Global Integrity, a research group committed to researching corruption issues worldwide. With governments spending billions to stimulate their economies, "the likelihood is exceedingly high in a core number of 'problem-children' countries" that some of that money will fuel corruption, says Heller, whose organization receives funding from the U.N., the World Bank and the Australian Agency for International Development. "You are going to see scandals and diversion of funds," he warns.

On Feb. 18, Global Integrity released its annual rankings of countries most vulnerable to widespread corruption. Based on data complied by journalists, academics, and researchers in 92 nations, the survey grades countries in six broad categories: civil society, public information, and media; elections; government accountability; administration and civil service; oversight and regulation; and anti-corruption and rule of law. Among the worst performers there are the usual suspects, with failed states like Somalia and Yemen near the head of the list. The worst performer among the world's largest economies, not surprisingly, is China, with an overall score of 59 (out of 100). China is one of 13 countries on Global Integrity's "Grand Corruption" list—countries where, as the think tank puts it, "certain key anti-corruption safeguards [are] so weak that the risks of large-scale theft of public resources [is] greater than in most countries."

Which countries do best? Surprise, it's Poland, with a score of 88. No. 2 is Bulgaria, with 87, followed by Japan, with 83. And what of the U.S., home to jailed lobbyist Jack Abramoff and impeached Governor Rod Blagojevich? Heller says the country earned a reprieve because of the transition from Bush to Obama. "We knew there was going to be a new Administration, so we decided to give the U.S. a year off," he says. Heller, who formerly worked at the Center for Public Integrity, another Washington think tank, nonetheless says the picture in the U.S. isn't great. "Things are probably on a downward trend here," he says.

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