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Economy

Petrobras, Why Privatization Alone Can Never Kill Corruption

Petrobras, Why Privatization Alone Can Never Kill Corruption
Hélio Schartsman

-OpEd-

SÃO PAULO — The ongoing corruption and money laundering scandals at Brazil's state-owned oil company Petrobras have badly tarnished the image of the company. Once considered as a sort of national treasure, the public firm faces almost daily revelations about kickbacks paid to politicians from oil sales as part of a scheme to buy votes, which has led to a growing chorus calling for Petrobras to be privatized.

But that reasoning is flawed. If being in private hands was any guarantee against corruption, then there wouldn't be so many directors and managers who have wound up behind bars. That doesn't mean, though, that privatization doesn"t offer a cure to many of the ills that are causing devastating damage to state-owned companies.

Australian philosopher Peter Singer identified the issue well in a 1999 book in which he defended the left's adoption of Social Darwinism instead of fighting against it. On paper — that is, in abstract terms and without taking human nature into consideration — the best way to provide goods and services to the population would be via state monopoly. It offers many advantages without requiring that benefits be redistributed among shareholders.

But reality doesn't exist on paper, and "state monopoly" is often mocked as synonymous with "inefficiency." That's because it is human nature to work better and harder when we do so for selfish reasons — in other words, to earn money and prestige.

If those responsible for the day-to-day business of a company don't benefit one way or another from its success, the end result is a clear break between the interests of the organization and that of its workers. In the best-case scenario, that leads to inefficiencies, and in the worst case, to systematic corruption.

The bottom line is not necessarily that Petrobras must be privatized. But there's no doubt that the oil giant needs to adopt some habits that are commonplace in private companies. For instance, its directors should be chosen for their competence and experience, not for political motivations.

According to Singer, one of the left's big mistakes has been to believe that there's no fixed human nature. But our nature is a hybrid one. We can work hand in hand, but it's inevitable that we take advantage of a situation when the conditions allow and the opportunity presents itself.

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FOCUS: Russia-Ukraine War

That Man In Mariupol: Is Putin Using A Body Double To Avoid Public Appearances?

Putin really is meeting with Xi in Moscow — we know that. But there are credible experts saying that the person who showed up in Mariupol the day before was someone else — the latest report that the Russian president uses a doppelganger for meetings and appearances.

screen grab of Putin in a dark down jacket

During the visit to Mariupol, the Presidential office only released screen grabs of a video

Russian President Press Office/TASS via ZUMA
Anna Akage

Have no doubt, the Vladimir Putin we’re seeing alongside Xi Jinping this week is the real Vladimir Putin. But it’s a question that is being asked after a range of credible experts have accused the Russian president of sending a body double for a high-profile visit this past weekend in the occupied Ukrainian city of Mariupol.

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Reports and conspiracy theories have circulated in the past about the Russian leader using a stand-in because of health or security issues. But the reaction to the Kremlin leader's trip to Mariupol is the first time that multiple credible sources — including those who’ve spent time with him in the past — have cast doubt on the identity of the man who showed up in the southeastern Ukrainian city that Russia took over last spring after a months-long siege.

Russian opposition politician Gennady Gudkov is among those who confidently claim that a Putin look-alike, or rather one of his look-alikes, was in the Ukrainian city.

"Now that there is a war going on, I don't rule out the possibility that someone strongly resembling or disguised as Putin is playing his role," Gudkov said.

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