An interesting column from Economist..

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Dodgy looking

Sep 27th 2007
From Economist.comDENMARK, Finland and New Zealand are the least corrupt countries in the world, according to Transparency International's annual Corruption Perceptions Index, published on Thursday September 27th. The index uses surveys of businessmen and experts to determine the perceived level of abuse of public office for private gain in 180 countries. The poorest nations tend to be the most corrupt. Myanmar and Somalia are bottom, with conflict-ridden Afghanistan and Sudan also languishing. Several African countries, including Namibia, Seychelles and South Africa, have improved their scores since the last survey. Austria and Thailand are among those with lower scores.

See..

thats the problem with those countries with the least amount of government corruption... There is no one to pay off to help oil the gears of industry and business.

For those that have ever dealt with the corruption in Thailand, most find it a much easier way of doing business.

But,I guess this will depend on which end of the giving and getting you're sitting on...

Is that right, Brazil, China, India and Mexico are in a four-way tie? Ah, Mexico, so close to the United States, and so far from God...

I think in a lot of western nations , corruption is often legal and therefore isn't perceived as corruption .

I think some governments bribed the researchers to get a better spot on the list...