Transparency International Perception Index Shows Worrying Trends. 

On Tuesday, Transparency International released its annual Corruption Perceptions Index. The index rates countries from 0 to 100 (0 being the worst and 100 the best) and shows some very concerning trends.  According to this article in The Guardian, the UK dropped from 71 to 70. The reason was increased campaign contributions from wealthy individuals, including an unnamed donor who gave £15 million to the Conservative Party in the last election cycle. The U.S also saw a dip in its score from 65 last year to 64 this year due to the current political climate. Across the board, except for a few examples, such as Ukraine, which has sought to strengthen its anti-corruption operations, there is a worrying lack of impetus to tackle global corruption.  It is unclear in which direction anti-corruption efforts will go, but given that far-right populism appears to be going strong, the outlook is not promising.