CORRUPTION is often defended as a kind of “grease” that keeps commerce moving, a shortcut that supposedly helps firms navigate slow bureaucracies and underpaid public offices. For some businesses and the crooks who profit from it, it can even be lucrative. But this illusion collapses when viewed from society’s perspective: corruption drains public revenues, discourages investment, raises prices and erodes essential services. What enriches a few ultimately becomes a burden borne by millions,...