Corruption throws a monkey wrench into an economy. It distorts markets, dissipates investment and discourages innovation and productivity. If not corrected, it also promotes political and social turmoil.
Corruption is a significant problem in Russia, Turkey, Iran, China and in large portions of Africa.
Could it happen here, where we have for so long enjoyed a life and an economy that, by world and historical standards, relatively corruption-free? You bet. All it would take is for us to ignore our gradually diminishing expectations.
Two movies, roughly 30 years apart, chart the decline for us.
In the 1960s, the Academy Award-winning French film, “The Umbrellas of Cherbourg,” was released. It featured a near-unforgettable song titled, “If It Takes Forever I Will Wait for You.” It is a beautiful song but behind its beauty lies the sadness of a broken promise.
In the movie it is sung by a young girl saying goodbye to her young man who has been drafted into the army to fight in Algeria. Some months later, the young woman, realizing she is pregnant, decides not to wait forever and marries a wealthy diamond merchant. The two young lovers meet again by accident some years later, and the song is reprised to underscore the time-dulled ache of loss that accompanies them in their otherwise comfortable lives. Nobody does poignant like the French; after all, they invented the word.
Broken promises are like that. We get over them, at least most of us do, but they are rarely forgotten entirely. They leave a dull ache, like a shoulder or knee that, on cold, rainy days, occasionally reminds us of its presence.
In the years after the 1960s, broken promises seemed to become more commonplace, and in the movies, sadness was replaced by acceptance. The classic “my word is as strong as oak” prelude to the broken promise in 1996’s “Jerry Maguire” was no longer a poignant element underscoring the plot. It was, if anything at all, expected. Two movies, 30 years and a world apart.
Are promises important to our economy? That is like asking if a foundation is important to a house. Our economy is built on promises: promises to pay; promises to buy; promises to deliver; contractual promises; promises written; promises spoken; and promises implied. We cannot function without them. And our lowered expectations do not make them less necessary.
Not all the stories are downers, of course. In the 1990s George Clooney was an increasingly popular cast member of the weekly television medical drama “ER.” Hollywood took notice and lucrative offers began to flood in. The young actor was tied to a five-year contract with the “ER” producers, though, which he had signed when he was largely unknown and happy to find regular work.
He chose to live up to his contract and continued in his role in “ER” for the full five years. That surprised the entertainment world for contracts are often renegotiated, bought out, or otherwise broken in that industry. What is even more remarkable is that Clooney never whined about it or about his pay under its terms. To Clooney, the producers had lived up to their end of his contract and he would do the same.
Phil Hughes is currently pitching for the San Diego Padres. Four years ago, when he was with the Minnesota Twins, he received a tempting offer. He had pitched for eight innings in a late season game vs. the Arizona Diamondbacks when the game was called because of rain. After an hour’s delay, play resumed with a relief pitcher taking over for the Twins, which was standard procedure.
Hughes had accumulated 209⅔ innings pitched for the season — and his contract had a bonus clause that would pay him $500,000 if he pitched 210 innings that season.
After the game, the Twins’ general manager offered Hughes the chance to pitch out of the bullpen that coming weekend and thereby pocket a half-million dollars. Hughes declined, saying that his contract was as a starter, and the young relief pitchers deserved a chance to show their stuff in the big league. He wasn’t going to take that away from them just to get a bonus.
The stories about Phil Hughes and George Clooney are encouraging, even inspirational, and especially needed in these times.
Where was the moral outrage, for example, when it was revealed that the third largest bank in America was cheating its own customers? Apparently, it was replaced by our diminished expectations for human behavior.
If we don’t change the direction of our expectations and demand more of each other, we must expect the consequences. In a line from another movie, “Fasten your seatbelts. It’s going to be a bumpy night.”
James McCusker is a Bothell economist, educator and consultant.
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