[corruption] time means money

Ben is not amused.

Where does one start? This story's not new but it sums up the question succinctly:

"According to at least six bloggers, Microsoft has been sending out free top-of-the-line laptops pre-loaded with Vista as a 'no strings attached gifts'. This 'reward' for their hard work on covering tech in general is coincidentally right before the launch of Vista to consumers. To be clear, these weren't loans, they were gifts, and they were top-of-the-line Acer Ferrari laptops. Microsoft blogger Long Zheng broke the silence over the source of the freebies."

The question of corruption at a micro level is an interesting one. Imagine a little country where corruption is rife at all levels and when one sets up a business, one sets aside 10% of the establishment costs to pay both the local mafia and the police, who are interwoven anyway.

Cranking it down to an everyday level, imagine the police stop you for going 20kph over the limit. Today we were discussing that. One of my friends was dead against paying bribes in any shape or form.

"The moment someone pays up, then there is created an expectation of payment for the future and finally a culture of automatic payment on the least pretext."

This may be true but there is another side too, put by my other friend:

A self-employed man, on $30 an hour, finds himself pulled over by the police. His time/cost ratios are as follows:

Scenario 1

1] Writing out of the chit [20 minutes/$10]

2] Driving to the payment centre, waiting in the queue, paying and driving back [2 hours/$60]

3] Cost of fine itself [$30]

TOTAL COST $100 [money goes to the State coffers]

Scenario 2

1] Conversation [10 minutes/$5]

2] $20 slipped in with the licence

TOTAL COST $25 [money goes to the man, his wife and family]

Which is better to do?