Transparency International which subtitles itself "the global coalition against corruption" has released it's corruption rankings. How have we ranked for the past 10 years (lower rankings representing less corruption)?

2009 191th

2008 18th

2007 17th

2006 20th

2005 17th

2004 17th

2003 18th

2002 16th

2002 16th

Just food for thought for those among us who believe the USA should be waging wars to spread our "values". Maybe we should just leave the moralizing to a troika of Finland, New Zealand and Denmark.

The technological expertise of government in the USA is behind that of international financiers who are based here. Our first president to carry a Blackberry needs to use it more with his economic advisors to make sure they understand his moral fundamentals with respect to how our economy should work for his constituents.

Statistics clearly show that the USA death penalty as a deterrent to murder is ineffectual, and possibly counterproductive. Again, we need to look in the mirror before looking abroad to solve our own crises.

Public corruption doesn't run any deeper than this. Eliot Spitzer along with two academic legal experts - one of whom is also an economist - remonstrate the federal government for not following the e-mails; the latest variation on following the money.

If these e-mails were made public, as they should be, it could not only go a long way to revealing the private corruption that got us into a near super-depression, but might also reveal the connivance of public officials necessary for such a scandal to evolve.

Don't hold your breath.

This could get interesting...or not.

We have a new "cyber czar" who will have policy analysis and suggestions responsibility, but no enforcement capacity.

It is reassuring that Howard Schmidt has a background in law enforcement, but not reassuring that he also gave up a previous similar position in government from frustration over bureaucracy. Since that was under the Bush administration I will assume he has found reason to have a little more faith in Obama.

Whether that trust is justified may depend on other members of the team more than on Schmidt's skills - which are of course very impressive on paper. Lawrence Summers has already made it clear that he intends to inject himself between the president and Schmidt's office. There is every reason to believe that cyber-security should be the primary focus of our government now. But its targets should be those very organizations responsible for the economic catastrophe that folks like Summers abetted even if they were not central in causing it.

I'm a strong believer in reform and Summers seems to have done so. But he should not limit cyber security.