The United States dropped from 71 to 69 on the 2019 Corruption Perceptions Index with zero very corrupt and 100 not corrupt. The survey measures public perceptions of corruption. Weak U.S. laws have enabled foreign despots, terror networks, drug cartels and human traffickers. “Fortunately, bipartisan legislation currently before Congress, the ILLICIT CASH Act and the Corporate Transparency Act, would go a long way toward stopping these interests from using the U.S. as a laundromat for their dirty cash,” said Garry Kalman of U.S. Transparency International. More than those in other developed countries, the U.S. public also thinks that special interest money has excessive influence in politics. (Transparency International, January 23, 2020, press release)
The U.S. is no longer in the top twenty, now tied with France at twenty-third. Denmark and New Zealand tied for first with Syria, Somalia and South Sudan the most corrupt. (Bloomberg News, January 22, 2020, by Zoltan Simon with contributions by Peter Laca)