Indonesia almost definitely would be better off if it had no corruption at all, and relatively few corrupt countries have seen economic successes comparable to Indonesia's.
A few corrupt businessmen around his son and heir apparent, Gamal, were imprisoned on corruption charges; a handful of top officials from the police and the security services are on trial along with Mubarak.
"We must recognize that Camden's difficulties run much deeper than a few corrupt leaders," Mr. Wiggins said.
MacKeown claims that the mishandling of the case goes far higher than a few corrupt police officers.
Elsewhere in the isthmus, jailing a few corrupt politicians, and then doing the same to big tax evaders, might bring swifter returns.
A master juggler, he tosses in a few corrupt national intelligence agencies and the conspiracy-laden assassination of Benazir Bhutto without slowing his pace or stalling his shocking conclusion.
Sweeping statements have been made to generalise an entire religion of 1.6 billion people on the basis of the actions of a few corrupt individuals.
A conference of campaigners and academics, entitled "How Corrupt is Britain?", will hear evidence that wrongdoing is not confined to a few corrupt officials but is systemic within leading institutions.
That gave the smuggling networks space to flourish, and helped enrich a few corrupt locals (many Thai fishing and seafood businesses have used migrants forced into what amounts to slavery).
"Although this case involved only a few corrupt and dissolute officials, it has shamed the entire judicial and legal system of Shanghai, and, indeed, the entire city itself," Mr. Han said.
