False economy What’s in it for me? Understand what makes the

Even under corrupt leadership, policy 
choices are what lead to a successful 
economy.
Political corruption can’t benefit an economy, 
can it? Well, just because a nation’s leader is 
honest, it doesn’t mean he’ll make the right 
choices that will lead to a prosperous economy.
Take Indonesia, which thrived under a corrupt 
president, and Tanzania, which crumbled under 
an honest one.
In 1968, Indonesia had a fractured government 
and a struggling economy. That year, President 
Suharto seized control in a terrifying takeover, 
killing thousands who opposed him while 
rebuilding the government with his own 
appointed personnel.
But, as brutal as he was, his conservative 
political policies proved to be economically wise. 
He opened up the Indonesia’s borders to 
international trading and shipping, attracted 
foreign investment, reduced poverty and quickly 
balanced the budget of the country.
As for Tanzania, from 1964 to 1985, the nation’s 
president was Julius Nyerere: a former teacher 
who was honest and quite unlike many other 
corrupt African rulers.
Unfortunately, his poor decisions as president 
led to economic stagnation. Nyerere tried to 
create a self-sustaining Tanzania and built 
policies that closed the country off to trade and 
investors.
He also socialized the nation’s farmers which 
resulted in widespread extortion and bribery over 
the distribution of goods and services. This 
resulted in a nationwide disaster and Nyerere 
was eventually forced to give up on his ideas of 
collectivization.
This shows that even political corruption doesn’t 
automatically determine a nation’s economic 
prosperity. It comes down to the choices and 
policies the governments make.
By making the right choices, nations can