Reuters’ Counterparties blog assembles Marcos-like numbers for China:
“The perception that China is ruled by wise leaders adhering to neo-Confucian ideals has been contradicted by revelations of the massive wealth accumulated by its elite: an estimated $2.7 billion by the family of Prime Minister Wen Jiabao; $376 million by the family of incoming president Xi Jinping; $89 billion by just the 70 wealthiest members of the National People’s Congress; $136 million by the family of the now ostracized Bo Xilai.”
Banking, construction and infrastructure have been the leading routes to wealth. Does anyone believe that self-enrichment on this scale is not corrupting everything the Chinese leadership says and does?
“Does anyone believe that self-enrichment on this scale is not corrupting everything the Chinese leadership says and does?”
No more so than if the leaders were all poor — perhaps less in fact, since if they were still poor, it would give them more desire to take lesser as well as larger amounts. It’s also not clear whether you can be corrupting something that is already corrupt.
grrr – bloody HTML tags