Economic gangsters : corruption, violence, and the poverty of nations / Raymond Fisman and Edward Miguel.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [215]-233) and index.

Fighting for economic development -- Suharto, Inc. -- The smuggling gap -- Nature or nurture? understanding the culture of corruption -- No water, no peace -- Death by a thousand small cuts -- The road back from war -- Learning to fight economic gangsters -- Epilogue : doing better this time.

Meet the economic gangster. He's the United Nations diplomat who double-parks his Mercedes on New York City streets at rush hour because the cops can't touch him - he has diplomatic immunity. He's the Chinese smuggler who dodges tariffs by magically transforming frozen chickens into frozen turkeys. The dictator, the warlord, the unscrupulous bureaucrat who bilks the developing world of billions in aid. The calculating crook who views stealing and murder as just another part of his business strategy. And, in the wrong set of circumstances, he might just be you." "In Economic Gangsters, Raymond Fisman and Edward Miguel take readers into the secretive, chaotic, and brutal worlds inhabited by these lawless and violent thugs. Join these two sleuthing economists as they follow the foreign aid money trail into the grasping hands of corrupt governments and shady underworld characters. Spend time with ingenious black marketeers as they game the international system. Follow the steep rise and fall of stock prices of companies with unseemly connections to Indonesia's former dictator. See for yourself what rainfall has to do with witch killings in Tanzania - and more.