"Your reader's comment on India's transition from mere corruption to dacoity was both devastating and apt. In response to your comments, the Indian media are doing a great job of exposing corruption; it is also a recurring topic in many excellent contemporary Indian films. The problem is that corruption is so pervasive - from the politicians and businessmen to the judges and the police - that it has ceased to have shock value. If Indians were to vote only for honest politicians - why, there would be no one to run (ruin?) the country.

"While good governance certainly helps stock markets, as you point out, I am not sure that corruption is necessarily a negative for investors unless the financial books are being cooked - I doubt that the major Indian firms are any different from the West in this regard. After all, the crooks are also the significant shareholders, and therefore benefit from rising markets. And reforms and liberalization mean more money changing hands (the latest 30Bln telecom scandal) and thus they are unlikely to be turned back. This is not a free lunch: the disparity between the haves and the have-nots has never been this blatant, with inflation having a much bigger effect on the latter."

David Fuller's view Thanks for articulating these points. In addition to my comments yesterday, I do understand that corruption in India has ceased to have shock value. However, I also sense that it has, and should have, controlled anger value. Presumably your excellent media have tapped into this exasperation which I hope will yield positive results.