Courtesy of Mish.
I have good news tonight from Spain: 96 Percent of Spaniards Believe Political Corruption is “Very High”.
To untrained ears and eyes that might not sound like good news. However look at it this way: How much worse can it get?
Simple math suggests only 4%.
However, accounting for politicians on the take unwilling to admit corruption ever, it appears corruption sentiment has not only peaked but has crossed the threshold beyond mathematical infinity.
While pondering that thought, please consider the Financial Times article Party accounts scandal rocks Spanish PM.
Mariano Rajoy, Spain’s prime minister, has ordered an investigation into his own party’s accounts as he scrambles to distance himself from allegations that its former treasurer presided over a system of paying cash kickbacks to top officials.
Spain’s ruling Popular party has been rocked by the allegations of cash payments to party members, which follow prosecutors revealing that Luis Bárcenas, former treasurer of the party, amassed a fortune of as much as €22m in a Swiss bank account, prompting protests outside the PP’s central Madrid headquarters.
The escalating scandal threatens to damage the credibility of the Rajoy government at a time when it is pushing through a series of swingeing public spending cuts as unemployment stands at 25 per cent, and anger mounts at successive corruption cases within Spain’s political and business elite.
Ongoing high-profile corruption investigations include a case against Iñaki Urdangarin, son-in-law of King Juan Carlos, who was last year charged with embezzling millions of euros from charitable organisations. There are at least a further 200 open cases against politicians across Spain.
A recent poll conducted for the El País newspaper found 96 per cent of Spaniards believed political corruption in the country was “very high”.
Journalism Comments
The Financial Times is at least three days late in reporting this story. I have covered it via Google translates starting last Friday.
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