Code Of Business Conduct And Ethics - Fifth Third Bank: Fill & Download for Free

Corruption–whether nepotistic, pecuniary, blatant, discreet, major, or minor–has undermined governments since governments were invented.Except for the ten years following Reform and Opening (which caused the Tiananmen Square demonstrations), corruption never interfered with Chinese policy formation, wage growth, or civic safety as it does elsewhere.But the corruption offended the Chinese people, whose Confucian civilization is very different from our Roman culture, which has been corrupt for 2500 years. Roman politicians were murderously corrupt and Christianity failed to improve them.Confucian governments at least fought corruption, as the The Hongwu Emperor⁠ [1] explained seven hundred years ago,Had I thoroughly eradicated corrupt officials in addition to those already imprisoned I would have been dealing with two thousand men from just two prefectures, men with no useful occupation who used my prestige to oppress people. No-one outside government knew how wicked they were so everyone said my punishments were harsh; they saw only the severity of the law and didn’t know that these villains had used the government’s good name to engage in evil practices.In the morning I punished a few and, by evening, others had committed the same crimes. I punished those in the evening and next morning there were more violations! Although the corpses of the first had not been removed others were already lined up to follow in their path, day and night! The harsher the punishment, the more violations. I didn’t know what to do, but I couldn’t rest. If I was lenient the law became ineffectual, order deteriorated, some people deemed me weak and engaged in still more evil practices. If I punished them others regarded me as a tyrant. How could anyone lead a peaceful life in such circumstances? Really, it was a dreadful situation.Nevertheless, the Confucian approach to corruption was consistently more effective than the Roman, for the Chinese public knew the antidote: before they destroy the State, people must withdraw the Mandate of Heaven from a government lacking the Four Principles–propriety, justice, honesty, and honor–and from officials lacking the Eight Virtues–loyalty, filial piety, benevolence, love, integrity, righteousness, harmony and peace.Rulers went to great pains to promote the most virtuous officials and to eliminate nepotism. Emperor Wu of Han began doing so in the second century BC and, despite officials’ resistance, fourteen centuries later, of two-hundred seventy-nine senior officials whose family histories we know[⁠2], fewer than half had forebears in government. By 2018, the number was under one-fifth. As Frederick Mote[⁠3] says, “China is very unusual, probably unique, in having had two millennia of experience with an increasingly open social structure and social ethos.”This table, from Nancy Park’s Corruption in Eighteenth-Century China, shows how government dealt with corrupt officials (‘salaried persons’) back then:From the earliest days, officials sent to govern provinces were forbidden to take their parents with them lest their needs conflict with the Emperor’s wishes. They were rotated every three years and, after each rotation, their successors were encouraged to report discrepancies lest they be blamed for them. Palace officials were regularly moved between departments and those who committed serious crimes were executed and their families sold into slavery.Everyone, from the humblest peasant to the most eminent politician, knows this history and understands that the surest cure for corruption is promoting honest men to leadership. Many still living saw how a century of chaos devastated public morality and how its effects lingered. As Mao observed during an anti-corruption drive in 1950, “Today, you can buy a branch secretary for a few packs of cigarettes, not to mention marrying a daughter to him.”Mao’s slogan, “The masses have sharp eyes,” encouraged people to report wrongdoing and corruption fell dramatically, just as Confucius had predicted. Though Mao’s insistence on merely shaming corrupt officials rather than executing them infuriated colleagues it worked, says Sydney Rittenberg⁠[4], “Nobody locked their doors. The banks–there was a local bank branch on many, many corners–the door was wide open, the currency was stacked up on the table in plain sight of the door, there were no guards and they never had a bank robbery, ever.”Anticipating that a wave of corruption would accompany the introduction of capitalism, planners redesigned the economy so that entrepreneurs would effectively bribe officials to expedite national development. Says Yukon Huang[5],The system countered the growth‐inhibiting aspects of corruption by setting investment and production targets that gave local officials incentives to promote expansion. It fostered a unity of purpose so that, even when corruption flourished, the collaborators still made growth the guiding principle of their actions. This was reinforced by competition between localities to meet targets and support productivity‐enhancing economic reforms. The competitive element helped curb waste and ensured a modicum of efficiency despite the high degree of state intervention in commercial activities.President Hu Jintao gave the system free rein between 2002-2012 and the roaring economy solved many problems–except corruption. But the government’s alternation of liberal and conservative policies is as ancient and predictable as the moon–and the new cycle followed a nepotism scandal in 2010.Bo Xilai, son of a Revolutionary Immortal (and schoolmate of Xi Jinping), had ignored his father’s pleas to stay out of politics, “You know nothing of the sufferings of ordinary people and just want to capitalize on my name.” Xilai cultivated a charismatic image, was named one of Time’s Most Influential People, rose rapidly to provincial governor and publicly campaigned for a cabinet position. But, as conservative scholar Cheng Li said at the time, “Nobody really trusts him. A lot of people are scared of him, including several princelings who are supposed to be his power base.” With the help of the Minister for Justice, Zhou Yongkang, Bo even wiretapped the President. Michael Wines wrote that, though he possessed prodigious charisma and deep intelligence, he had “A studied indifference to the wrecked lives that littered his path to power...Mr. Bo's ruthlessness stood out.”Then Vice Premier Wu Yi, the nation’s highest woman official, demanded an open investigation in 2012. A court trial revealed that Bo owned expensive property around the world and his wife had murdered a British agent, and the couple was jailed for life. They joined a long line of disgraced elites, like the grandson of Zhu De, China’s Head of State and founder of the Red Army, who was executed for rape, and Yan Jianhong, wife of Guizhou’s powerful Party Secretary, who was executed for corruption.With the economy strong, prosperity assured, and corruption foremost in the public’s mind, Congress anointed Xi Jinping, the most honest official of his generation, to succeed President Hu.In his first year, Xi’s anti-corruption campaign saw ten thousand officials passed over for promotion for concealing information and one-hundred thirty-thousand demoted or disciplined for making false declarations. In 2016, corrupt Yunnan Party Secretary, Bai Enpei, was sentenced to death, prosecutors charged sixty-three senior officials and ministers with corruption, and released confessions from fifty-seven thousand Party members who made restitution and accepted demotions.By 2018, the anti-corruption team had investigated 1.3 million administrators, filed a million court cases, issued one hundred thousand indictments, captured thousands of overseas fugitives and jailed or executed one-hundred twenty high-ranking officials–including five national leaders, twelve generals and a dozen CEOs. After a 2019 Tianjin industrial explosion killed one-hundred sixty-five people the investigating magistrate found that petty bribery had led to weak code enforcement, so he sentenced the responsible official to death and jailed forty-nine colleagues.Today, anti-graft officials subject officials to unannounced inspections like Olympic athletes’ doping tests. An Anhui provincial inspection team called one official four times between 7:31 and 7:35 one evening about his poverty alleviation efforts and reported that his failure to answer the call–he was showering at the time–had hindered the battle against poverty. Fortunately, when they moved to fire him, the public came to his defense and he was eventually exonerated.Knowing that that ten percent of their statements will be audited, even deputy county officials now report their marital status, overseas travel, criminal record, wages, other earnings, family properties, stocks, funds, insurance and investments. If they are questioned and refuse to answer, or collude with or protect accomplices, they are detained immediately. Bureaucrats–especially those with leadership ambitions–must endure increasing scrutiny as they advance. As one of them, Zhao Bing Bing[⁠6] said, “The selection criteria are: a person must have ‘both ability and moral integrity and the latter should be prioritized.’”Midlevel officials must report their own assets and those of their parents, wives, children, children’s spouses and cousins and the reporting form has a reminder, in red ink, to include children from previous marriages, children born out of wedlock and foster children. They must report their income, savings, real estate, stock portfolio, insurance policies, stocks, unit trusts, bonds and assets in overseas accounts, “Income shall include salary and various bonuses, allowances, subsidies, and payment you receive from lectures, writing, consultation, reviewing, painting and calligraphy.” The impact was immediate and palpable, says the young scion of a prominent Party family:I am a Party Member in China and all my family are Party members. What I think of Xi is that the life is really changing after he came to power. A relative of mine works for the government as a vital governor in my city ShenZhen (which is a big city like BeiJing or ShangHai), then all my family people are like in the hierarchy of privilege. We pay nothing when go out for dinner, the Party pays. We pay nothing for filling in oil, the Party pays. It seems like we don't need to pay for anything with our salaries, cause either the Party pays, or someone will pay for us (who wants to flatter us). I smoke the best, I drink the best, sometimes I even drive without license when drunk, because I fear no one.In past times, yes we did have privilege everywhere, I felt so arrogant to be superior to others that’s also true. But the problem is, there is a tradeoff. We drank quite a lot of alcohol to show respect to others, we had to accept bribes even we know it's risky, cause we have to consider about our clan (like the interest of my boss). We had to do some many things we don't want to do, that's the rule of living in Party, care about the interest of Clan more than your own. That's how we united. We have to fear a lot of threats from ordinary people, colleagues, and bosses. We cannot keep our own passports, Party keeps it in case of we flee.But life changed after Xi came to power, he did real thing on anti-corruption. No one dare to present gifts to governors and the abuse of public funds is strictly monitored. The Party took back the public cars from my family and even we have to pay for the parking fee now! But..my family and I are actually happy with this, we are thankful to President Xi. Cause he seems like dragging China to a healthier future. My relative doesn't need to go out for dinner with other governors as social intercourse daily, they don't need to drink so much on the table. And they start to learn to pay for the bill by turns, cause the Party will no longer do this for them. They start to learn how to take bus or metro. That's good, actually. People start to think about what kind of lifestyle is called ‘healthy,’ they are more like human now, no longer some conceited stupid with expanding power. That's how life changed after Xi came.Officials who have relatives in government must disclose their relationship and wait for promotion until the senior relative retires. Senior ministers’ lives are excruciatingly transparent. Their private activities are scrutinized and their children must adopt assumed names to avoid influence-seekers. One-on-one appointments are taken as evidence of impropriety so all meetings must have third-party observers. A trail of excessive–or poor quality–government debts is treated as prima facie evidence of corruption and automatically investigated.Even retirement brings no release: after retirement senior officials are audited annually and remain responsible for the consequences of their decisions until the day they die. Even then, clawback provisions reclaim ill-gotten gains.The masses’ eyes grew sharper, too, after Xi crowdsourced the anti-corruption campaign. He urged everyone to text 12388, the office of the Rules and Discipline Committee (founded during the Tang Dynasty). Complainants often post accusations on social media and request additional witnesses. In one famous case, netizens scrutinizing a news photograph spotted a low-level safety official wearing an expensive watch and the subsequent investigation sent Brother Watch to jail for fourteen years. Amateur corruption fighters even have their own websites and Beijing publishes monthly scores:Visitors still burn incense at the shrines of great corruption fighters and millions watch TV dramas about ‘Justice Bao’ Zheng, the incorruptible Prefect of the Capital in 1000 AD. A wildly popular TV series, ‘In the Name of People,’ depicts current-day intra-Party power struggles in the fictional city of Jingzhou. The Jingzhou prosecutor and honest local officials help laid-off workers violently protesting a corrupt land deal, fight corrupt bureaucrats sabotaging an arrest warrant, and stop fake police bulldozing honest citizens’ homes. The writers say they have no shortage of material for the show.But for all his high-profile attacks on corruption, Xi’s most memorable contribution to Chinese history will probably be his new, fourth arm of government, the National Supervision Commission[⁠7], whose job it is to make corruption impossible. It is only such government agency on earth.Before the Commission was created, anti-corruption was divided between the Party and the state. On the Party side, the CCDI enforced party discipline–including party loyalty, anti-graft, and ethical and lifestyle requirements–against Party members, who constitute 80 percent of civil servants and 95 percent of leading officials. The CCDI turned evidence of criminal wrongdoing over to the state for prosecution.On the state side, the State Council Ministry of Supervision (MOS) supervised the civil servants who were not Party members, investigated graft, misappropriation of public funds, and other duty-related violations. The National Bureau of Corruption Prevention made policy recommendations and coordinated international anti-corruption. Departments of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate (SPP) investigated certain kinds of corruption and malfeasance.Now the anti-corruption functions of all three agencies–the MOS, the CPB, and the SPP–are performed by the Commission which, as the highest anti-corruption agency in the country, ranks with the Supreme People's Court and the Department of Justice. Congress appoints its director, deputy director and senior staff–who need not be Party members and who cannot work in another arm of government for the rest of their lives.Their first task is turning the ongoing anti-corruption campaign into a regular legal process, rather than continuing prosecution through internal and extralegal channels. The Commission also oversees provincial, city, and county commissions responsible for supervising all public personnel exercising public power. Their authority is much broader than their predecessor agencies and they enjoy more powerful investigatory powers including, scarily, power of immediate detention!The Supervision Law also doubles, even triples, the number of personnel subject to supervision. While the MOS only had jurisdiction over non-Party government employees, the new law gives the Commission authority over civil servants, the CCP itself, the government, the people’s congresses, the supervision commissions themselves, the people’s courts and the procuracy, the people’s political consultative congresses, the eight democratic parties, federations of industry and commerce, and other personnel managed under China’s Civil Servants Law or who work in organizations that manage public affairs.The Commission’s writ runs further: to SOE managers, state educational, scientific research, cultural, health care, sports, and similar entities and grassroots villager and urban residents committees–and even ‘other personnel who perform public duties.’ They do not have jurisdiction over the PLA or the PAP, who are supervised by the Central Military Commission.The Commission is neither an administrative body like MOS nor a judicial organ like the SPC or SPP–it is a political body. This means that, in addition to being exempted from criminal procedure protections, it is not subject to the administrative law that imposes procedural and substantive constraints on government administrative organs like the police, which must disclose stipulated information, allow the public to participate in rule-making, and follow due process when imposing administrative penalties.The new Supervision Law does allow its targets to request re-examination of the Commission’s decisions and challenge (internally) unlawful conduct like harsh interrogation and prolonged detention by appealing to the higher-level supervision organ. But, though the new law does not provide a right of further appeal to the courts, it does require supervisory organs and staff to pay lawful compensation for infringing someone’s lawful rights and interests.The effects of the anti-corruption drive are already visible: civil service applications fell four percent in 2018, but satisfaction with local officials rose twenty percent since 2012, while ninety-three percent of people said they trust the national government and eighty-three percent say it runs the country for everyone’s benefit. Thanks to officials’ early years in the wilderness, constant monitoring, endless ethics lectures, relentless demands for results, exhaustive disclosures, painful transparency and twenty-four-hour public scrutiny, corruption is becoming a losing business.We should also credit Confucius for limiting political power to a single lifetime, for knowing that intelligence and honesty are linked[⁠8], and for insisting that power be given only to honest, intelligent people._______________________________________________________________________1 Huáng-Míng Zǔxùn (Instructions of the Ancestor of the August Ming) were admonitions left by the Hongwu Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang, the founder of the Chinese Ming dynasty, to his descendants.2 China's Meritocratic Examinations and the Ideal of Virtuous Talents. Xiao, H., & Li, C. (2013). In D. Bell & C. Li (Eds.), The East Asian Challenge for Democracy: Political Meritocracy in Comparative Perspective: Cambridge University Press.3 Imperial China 900-1800. F.W. Mote4 An old friend of the party assesses China's new leaders. Rob Schmitz. Marketplace.November 19, 20125 Yukon Huang was the World Bank’s Director for China. The Diplomat6 The China Model, by Daniel Bell and Zhao Bing Bing.7 The National Supervision Commission was formed at the first session of the 13th National People's Congress in 2018 and absorbed the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China.8 Honesty, rule violation and cognitive ability: A reply to Gächter and Schulz, by Heiner Rindermann, David Becker, and James Thompson.

My latest and favorite, a bill to address the widespread corruption in American politics : Warren Delivers Speech on Comprehensive Plan to End Corruption in Washington | U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren of MassachusettsWarren's legislation is the most ambitious anti-corruption legislation since Watergate. The legislation contains six big ideas:1. Padlock the Revolving Door and Increase Public Integrity by eliminating both the appearance and the potential for financial conflicts of interest; banning Members of Congress, cabinet secretaries, federal judges, and other senior government officials from owning and trading individual stock; locking the government-to-lobbying revolving door; and eliminating "golden parachutes".2. End Lobbying as We Know It by exposing all influence-peddling in Washington; banning foreign lobbying; banning lobbyists from donating to candidates and Members of Congress; strengthening congressional independence from lobbyists; and instituting a lifetime ban on lobbying by former Members of Congress, Presidents, and agency heads.3. End Corporate Capture of Public Interest Rules by requiring disclosure of funding or editorial conflicts of interest in rulemaking comments and studies; closing loopholes corporations exploit to tilt the rules in their favor and against the public interest; protecting agencies from corporate capture; establishing a new Office of Public Advocate to advocate for the public interest in the rulemaking process; and giving agencies the tools to implement strong rules that protect the public.4. Improve Judicial Integrity and Defend Access to Justice for All Americans by enhancing the integrity of the judicial branch; requiring the Supreme Court follow the ethics rules for all other federal judges; boosting the transparency of federal appellate courts through livestreaming audio of proceedings; and encouraging diversity on the federal bench.5. Strengthen Enforcement of Anti-Corruption, Ethics, and Public Integrity Laws by creating a new, independent anti-corruption agency dedicated to enforcing federal ethics laws and by expanding an independent and empowered Congressional ethics office insulated from Congressional politics.6. Boost Transparency in Government and Fix Federal Open Records Laws by requiring elected officials and candidates for federal office to disclose more financial and tax information; increasing disclosure of corporate money behind Washington lobbying; closing loopholes in federal open records laws; making federal contractors - including private prisons and immigration detention centers - comply with federal open records laws; and making Congress more transparent.Remarks by Senator Elizabeth Warren**As Prepared for Delivery**August 21, 2018I want to begin with two numbers. 73. 18.For more than half a century, the National Election Survey has been asking Americans a simple question: Do you trust the federal government to do the right thing all of the time, or at least most of the time?In 1958, the first year this survey was conducted, the number was 73-that is, 73% of Americans polled said, yes, they trusted their government to do the right thing at least most of the time.For a long time, the number remained high.1968 was a year of historic convulsions. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated, Bobby Kennedy was killed, North Korea captured a US surveillance ship, and North Vietnam launched the Tet offensive. Faith in government went down, but overall, it held firm. 62% still trusted government.After Watergate, the number took a big hit, dropping to 36%.But today?Eighteen.From 73 to 18. Not even one in five Americans today trust their government to do the right thing.I'd love to stand here and tell you that this was some sudden drop after Donald Trump was elected, but that wouldn't be true.This problem is far bigger than Trump.The way I see it, a loss of faith this broad, and this profound, is more than a problem - it is a crisis. A crisis of faith.This is the kind of crisis that leads people to turn away from democracy. The kind of crisis that forces people to stop believing in what we can do together. The kind of crisis that creates fertile ground for cynicism and discouragement. The kind of crisis that gives rise to authoritarians.---Why have so many people lost faith? Thoughtful people give different answers.Some say it's the result of politicians making government the enemy. And that's true.Since Watergate, generation after generation of American politicians have attacked the very idea that our government can do anything right. Recall Ronald Reagan's famous line: What are the nine most terrifying words in the English language? I'm from the government and I'm here to help.Really? Government help is terrifying? Give me a break. Do you know what's actually terrifying? Hurricanes like Katrina and Maria are terrifying, which is why victims of natural disasters ask for government help. After a lifetime of hard work, growing old and going broke is terrifying, which is why the American people strongly support Social Security. Choosing between food and medicine is terrifying, and that's why the American people rise up and take to the streets when Republicans try to cut back Medicare and Medicaid.And there's so much more that we want to work on together. Americans want roads and bridges. They want power and water systems. They want a top-notch economic system. They want real cybersecurity and a military that defends our nation. And they want a government that can deliver those things.Government can be a powerful force for good - but only when it works for the people.And the American people understand that today, it doesn't.Our national crisis of faith in government boils down to this simple fact: people don't trust their government to do the right thing because they think government works for the rich, the powerful and the well-connected and not for the American people.---And here's the kicker: They're right.At a time when this country faces enormous challenges, our government actively serves the richest and most powerful and turns its back on everyone else.At a time of skyrocketing inequality and stagnant wages for the middle class, our government is giving gargantuan handouts to the wealthiest Americans.At a time when mass incarceration grinds down human beings and destroys communities of color, our government is putting more cash into the for-profit prison industry.At a time when sea levels are rising and the health threats posed by climate change are accelerating by the day, our government is handing over both taxpayer money and federally protected lands to the fossil fuel industry.At a time of staggering drug prices and soaring out of pocket costs, our government tucks tail and runs away from any serious challenge to big Pharma and greedy insurance companies.At a time of crippling student loan debt, our government is bending over backwards to help bogus for-profit colleges and student loan companies get richer by cheating students.Across the board, our government-our government-is failing to fix the problems that face our working families. Instead, it's making the problems worse by giving more money, more power, and more advantages to those who already have all three.And so often - whether it leads to poisoned water or toxic bank loans - communities of color are hit first and hit hardest.Our government systematically favors the rich over the poor, the donor class over the working class, the well-connected over the disconnected.This is deliberate, and we need to call this what it is - corruption, plain and simple.Corruption has seeped into the fabric of our government, tilting thousands of decisions away from the public good and toward the desires of those at the top. And, over time, bit by bit, like a cancer eating away at our democracy, corruption has eroded Americans' faith in our government.I know that's a stark assessment. But I'm not here to describe the death of democracy. I'm here to talk about fighting back. I'm here because I believe that change is hard, but change is possible.Change can start with reforming how our largest companies operate. Last week, I introduced the Accountable Capitalism Act, which would restore the once-common idea that giant American corporations should look out for a broad range of American stakeholders. By requiring our largest companies to seat workers on their boards, limiting the ability of executives to get rich quick off short-term stock price bumps, and giving shareholders and Directors a real say in corporate political spending, this bill could go a long way toward restoring real economic democracy in America. And in the process, it would ensure that when American businesses engage with our government, they are speaking on behalf of their entire communities - and not simply as megaphones for the wealthy and the powerful.Getting American corporations to start acting like responsible American citizens is an important first step toward limiting corruption. But broader changes are needed.Today, I'm introducing the most ambitious anti-corruption legislation proposed in Congress since Watergate. This is an aggressive set of reforms that would fundamentally change the way Washington does business. These reforms have one simple aim: to take power in Washington away from the wealthy, the powerful, and the well-connected who have corrupted our government and put power back in the hands of the American people.We can do this. We must do this. And when we do, we will restore the faith of the American people - not just in our government, but faith in democracy itself.---The recent explosion of big political spending has delivered a gut-punch to our democracy. I do what I can by not taking any PAC money or any money from federal lobbyists. There's a lot of work to do on campaign finance, starting with overturning Citizens United. But that's not nearly enough. The corrupting influence of big money in Washington reaches much further than political campaigns.Big money eats away at the heart of our democracy. Over the last few decades, it has created a pervasive culture of soft corruption that colors virtually every important decision in Washington.Consider a couple of examples:First, the rich and powerful buy their way into Congressional offices. Exhibit A: Mick Mulvaney. After he left Congress, Mulvaney told a roomful of bankers that he had a rule in his office: if a lobbyist didn't give him money, the lobbyist didn't get a meeting-he met only with those lobbyists who ponied up for his campaign war chest. Today, Mulvaney is President Trump's head of the Office of Management and Budget and the person running the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. And when he made these comments right out in public with the press listening in, Trump and pretty much every Republican in Washington just shrugged.The rich and powerful also offer up some pretty nice gifts for public servants to do their bidding. In the early 2000s, Congressman Billy Tauzin started pushing an idea: expand Medicare to cover prescription drugs. Good for seniors-in fact, life saving for some. But also very good for Big Pharma-more prescriptions filled, more money coming in.And it might all have landed there, with seniors getting drug coverage and drug companies selling more drugs - but Big Pharma wanted more. Number one on their list was a flat prohibition on the worrisome possibility that the government might actually negotiate for lower drug prices. And Billy delivered - which I'm sure had nothing to do with the more than $200,000 in campaign contributions the Congressman received from the drug industry.Today, Big Pharma rakes in billions from seniors on Medicare while charging sky-high prices for the drugs they need-and no one in government can negotiate those prices. And what happened to Billy?In December of 2003, the very same month the bill was signed into law, PhRMA - the drug companies' biggest lobbying group - dangled the possibility that Billy could be their next CEO.In February of 2004, Congressman Tauzin announced that he wouldn't seek re-election. Ten months later, he became CEO of PhRMA -at an annual salary of $2 million. Big Pharma certainly knows how to say "thank you for your service."Sometimes the payoff comes upfront. Goldman Sachs handed Gary Cohn over a quarter of a billion dollars on his way out the door to become the head of President Trump's National Economic Council. A quarter of a billion dollars to help quarterback a tax package that included giveaways worth just over a quarter of a billion to Goldman -in the first quarter of 2018 alone. That's quite the return on investment for Goldman Sachs. For the taxpayers who paid Mr. Cohn's salary and were under the mistaken impression that Mr. Cohn was working for them, the return was not so good.The examples are everywhere these days. A Commerce Secretary who acts like a cartoon version of a Wall Street fat cat, awash in financial conflicts, intertwined with Russian financial interests, suspected of swindling millions from his business partners and using his official position to pump up his fortune through shady stock trading. An EPA Administrator who resigns in disgrace over corruption, only to be replaced with another EPA Administrator who belongs in the coal baron's hall of fame. A Congressman facing indictment for insider trading.Let's face it: there's no real question that the Trump era has given us the most nakedly corrupt leadership this nation has seen in our lifetimes. But they are not the cause of the rot - they're just the biggest, stinkiest example of it.Corruption is a form of public cancer, and Washington's got it bad. It's time for treatment, time to isolate and quarantine the ability of big money to infect the decisions made every day by every branch of our government.---This problem is enormous - but we've dealt with enormous problems before. We just need some big reform ideas and a willingness to fight for real change. So here's the First Big Change - Padlock the revolving door between big business and government.Ban elected and appointed officials from becoming lobbyists after they leave office. Not for one year. Not for two years. For the rest of their lives. Sorry, Billy. No more Congressman Pharma.And no more pre-bribes like the Gary Cohn giveaway. No special deals for millions and millions of dollars to the policymakers who will be in a position to pay back their old employers.We can also lock the revolving door for people who have led a company that got caught breaking the law or anyone who worked as a lobbyist for any corporation. A six-year time-out before that lobbyist or outlaw CEO can take a job in government. And we can limit the ability of America's biggest and most powerful companies to gain unfair market advantages from vacuuming up every former regulator on the market.Sure, there's lots of expertise in the private sector, and government should be able to tap that expertise. And, yes, public servants should be able to use their expertise when they leave government. But we've gone way past expertise and are headed directly into graft. Padlock the revolving door.Here's my Second Big Change: Stop self-dealing by public officials. If a person works for the government, then that work should serve the public. No making policy decisions to help yourself instead of taxpayers.Right now, that problem begins with a President who may be vulnerable to financial blackmail from a hostile foreign power and God knows who else - a President and his family who may be personally profiting off hundreds of policy decisions every day - but we don't know, because he won't show us his tax returns and won't get rid of his personal business interests.The truth is, it's insane that we have to beg the President of the United States to put the American people ahead of his own business interests. Insane.Presidents should not be able to own companies on the side. And we shouldn't have to beg candidates to let the American people to see their financial interests. That should be the law - not just for presidential candidates, but for every candidate for every federal office.While we're at it, enough of the spectacle of HHS Secretaries and herds of congressmen caught up in insider trading schemes. It's time to ban elected officials and senior agency officials from owning or trading any company stocks while in office. They can put their savings in conflict-free investments like mutual funds or they can pick a different line of work.Third Big Change - End lobbying as we know it.The term "lobbying" has been around for nearly two hundred years. And our Constitution protects "the right of the people...to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." But as recently as the 1970s there was no real corporate lobbying industry. There were lobbyists here and there, but there were not enough to fill a school bus.Today, the national Chamber of Commerce spends tens of millions of dollars to block policies that threaten the profits of a handful of America's richest corporations. They currently occupy an enormous building facing the White House, a sort of visual alternative to the government elected by the people. But back in the 1970s, the Chamber had no presence in DC to speak of. That started to change in 1972, when a hotshot corporate lawyer named Lewis Powell wrote a secret memo for the Chamber.The Powell Memo declared that the free enterprise system was under assault and urged the Chamber to mobilize America's biggest businesses and establish themselves as a political force to be reckoned with.It was a declaration of war on democracy. Powell called on corporations to raise armies of lobbyists and descend on Washington. And, boy, did they respond.Today, lobbying is a multi-billion-dollar industry -more than $3.3 billion in 2017 alone. More than eleven thousand registered lobbyists are deployed to work day and night to influence our government, largely on behalf of wealthy clients. And, by the way, that memo worked out pretty well for Lewis Powell too-a few months later, he was named to the Supreme Court.Nobody would argue that companies have nothing to contribute to our democratic process. Of course they do. But today, lobbyists working for the wealthy and well-connected crowd the halls of government like it's happy hour every hour. And particularly in Congress, where staff budgets and in-house expertise continue to shrink , it's easier than ever for them to simply overwhelm our democracy so that the lobbyists-or the lobbyists' paying clients-are the only ones whose stories get heard.That's not how a government of the people-all the people-is supposed to work. So let's fix it.Start by fixing the Swiss cheese definition of a "lobbyist." Require everyone who gets paid to influence government to register.And bring lobbying out into the sunlight. Make every single meeting between a lobbyist and a public official a matter of public record. Require public disclosure of any documents that lobbyists provide to government officials. Put it all online. And if that seems overwhelming-too many meetings, too many company-drafted bills, too many love notes-think about what that means is going on in the dark recesses of our government right now.Put a windfall tax on excessive lobbying, to ensure that when companies spend millions trying to stop the government from protecting the public, the cops on the beat get more resources to fight back.And while we're at it, let's strengthen the government's independence from lobbyists. Raising Congressional salaries to track other federal officials would mean that low-paid staffers don't feel compelled to audition for jobs with influence peddlers when they should be standing up to them.Finally, let's just plain get rid of some of the most corrosive and dangerous lobbying practices. The trial of Donald Trump's campaign manager has exposed how foreign governments hide their efforts to influence the American government through lobbying. We should ban Americans from getting paid to lobby for foreign governments-period. If foreign governments want to express their views, they can use their diplomats.One more piece: End legalized lobbyist bribery by prohibiting lobbyists from writing campaign checks or giving personal gifts to anyone running for or holding federal office.Reining in corporate lobbyists will make a big difference. But there's more.Too often, decisions in the federal agencies charged with implementing our laws end up captured by the very same corporate giants that they're supposed to be keeping in check. It's time for that to stop. Corporations should have a seat at the table, but they shouldn't take over the whole restaurant.And that's my Fourth Big Change - End corporate capture of rulemaking.Start by empowering beleaguered agencies to stand up to well-heeled corporate giants that don't want to follow any rules.When someone lies to a court, we call it "perjury." But, too often, when companies lie to regulatory agencies during the rulemaking process, they just call it "analysis"-and no one bats an eye. Meanwhile, Donald Trump's EPA has the gall to try to block objective, high quality science from being considered in the rulemaking process.Enough of this garbage. Prosecute companies that knowingly mislead government agencies. And stop the practice of companies paying for sham "studies" designed to derail the rulemaking process. Instead, let's force anyone who submits a study to a regulatory agency to disclose who's paying for it and who's editing it. If studies with financial and editorial conflicts don't meet minimal methodological standards, throw them out before they disrupt the process.---Fifth Big Change - Restore faith that ordinary people can get a fair shake in our courts.For starters, strengthen the code of conduct for all federal judges - no stock trading, no payments from corporations for attending events, no honoraria for giving speeches, no lavish getaways and fancy hunting trips funded by billionaires.And I mean all federal judges, including Supreme Court justices. I've heard Supreme Court justices say we should just trust that they'll be ethical all on their own. Yeah, right. I watched as Justice Gorsuch trotted over to Trump International Hotel to give a speech sponsored by a political organization that has worked for decades to break the backs of unions. A few months later, Justice Gorsuch delivered the deciding vote to crush public sector unions. What union member believed that her side actually had a fair hearing? There's a reason judges should be required to avoid even the appearance of favoritism.The courts should also be more open. Individuals and small businesses should be able to have their day in court. Americans should be able to see easily what's happening in the judicial process. Public filings should be easier to access online and free to the public. And it's ten years' past time for us to start audio livestreaming federal appellate and Supreme Court proceedings.---Finally, Big Change Number Six - Hire a new independent sheriff to police corruption. There are dedicated public servants that enforce our ethics laws, but they have less authority than security guards at the mall. Build a new anticorruption agency to make sure that all key federal officials-even powerful Senators and Presidents-file disclosures and get rid of conflicts. Close up the loopholes in federal open records laws. This agency can shine floodlights on government actions and empower the public and press with new tools to help safeguard our democracy.And we can do our best to insulate the sheriff's office from partisan politics and give it the tools it needs to seriously investigate violations and punish offenders.---Washington corruption is not a small problem, and it will not be rooted out with small solutions. In addition to the big changes I talked about today, my legislation contains dozens more ideas to promote clean government, from giant reforms to small tweaks and everything in between.These changes will require everyone who runs for or who holds office to change at least some of their practices - including me. Many of these ideas challenge the most fundamental assumptions about how business is currently done in our nation's capital. Inside Washington, some of these proposals will be very unpopular, even with some of my friends. Outside Washington, I expect that most people will see these ideas as no-brainers and be shocked they're not already the law.I'm sure the people who make big money off the current system will yell and scream and spend millions of dollars trying to stop these changes. And the all-day-long pundits and Washington insiders who live in the same neighborhoods and eat at the same sushi bars and go to the same book parties will say ‘this will never pass' and try to color me naïve for even trying. But it's that kind of self-serving group-think that's allowed corruption to spread through this town for decades.Besides, such nay-saying ignores our history: Our country has responded to deep corruption with bold action before.I won't pretend to be sure I've gotten everything exactly right. I'm willing and eager to discuss the details. My bill proposes a year-long transition for people to adapt to the new system before these changes would go into effect. But here is my promise: I plan to fight to pass as many of these reforms as possible. I believe we can break the stranglehold that the wealthy and well-connected hold over our government. I believe we can get our democracy working again.---There are millions of good people working in government. People who show up to do a hard day's work in federal, state and local government, determined to deliver essential services and their best judgments on behalf of the public.Men and women who are uniquely aware that they owe their jobs - and their salaries - to you, the people of the United States.They are Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle, their staffs, interns and volunteers.They are career public servants, serving here at home and in remote corners of the world.They are unified by a belief in the greater good of government. It's that belief, that shared vision of what it means to live and work and fight for a future in our democracy that gives me hope.We owe everyone fighting for that greater good a debt of gratitude.But we also owe them rules that promote an unwavering determination to serve the public-and only the public.This is not about big government versus small government. It's about whether government works for the wealthy and well-connected or government works for the people.Only 18% of Americans believe our government is doing right most of the time. But I'm not throwing my hands up and walking away. I'm not giving in to the cynicism. I still believe that in our darkest hours, at our lowest points, government can be a force for good to bring us back together.And here's the good news: deep down, still Americans believe it, too.You see it in the fight to make government affirm healthcare as a basic human right.You see it in the fight to make government stand for people and against giant corporations.You see it the fight to insulate government from the influence of corporate contributions.You see it in the fight to make government a force for healing our racial and cultural divides.Americans know that they have a government that isn't working for them. But instead of giving up, more and more people are demanding a government that is run by the people for the people.A country where everyone - everyone - has a fighting chance to get ahead.A country that stands for truth, honesty, compassion and service to one another.A country and a government that's worth believing in and worth fighting for.That's the country I believe in. That's the government I will fight for. I believe we can save our government, and together we can make it work for the people.

FUTURE OF IOT IN INDIA:The internet of things is now growing exponentially and is reaching different verticals and industries. India is one of the countries where a IoT of innovation is happening around IoT across different verticals and technologies. The IoT ecosystem in India is mainly driven by 3 players: Government, Industry and Startups.Government:There is a lot of scope for IoT in India and Government has rightly recognised it and working towards it. The government has taken initiative and framed a draft policy to fulfill a vision of developing a connected, secure and a smart system based on our country’s needs. Government’s objective is to create an IoT industry in India of USD 15 billion by 2020.One of the key initiatives of the Government is to build smart cities across the country. Major aspects of a smart city being focused by the Government are:Smart parkingIntelligent transport systemTele-careWoman SafetySmart gridsSmart urban lightingWaste managementSmart city maintenanceDigital-signageWater ManagementOther domain specific applications include smart water, smart environment and smart health. There is a plan to incorporate an incubator for to IoT to promote innovation.Another key initiative taken by Government is the formation of Centre of Excellence on Internet of Things as a joint initiative with NASSCOM. As part of this joint initiative, Government plans to nurture and grow the IoT ecosystem.With growth comes challenges:The biggest implementation challenge will be the complete integration of technology and language. We have to keep in mind India’s diversity.Cyber security is another obstacle. We are all well aware that internet and cyber crime are inseparable.Issue of last mile connectivity.Industries:Another key player in this ecosystem is the Industry. IoT will transform how companies do business when they grab onto its innovations.Statistics shows about one-fifth of manufacturing companies are using IoT to increase production and reduce costs. Why use IoT? What are the benefits? IoT offers better control of companies’ logistics. The use of the data can also enable them to offer their customers near real-time tracking of shipments. The future of the manufacturing sector in India is envisioned to be capital efficient and flexible. Design updates will be introduced more quickly, and customizations will easily be installed.Automobile industries are another major adopters aiming to feature-rich, safer and cost effective products and services. They contribute 17% share as adopters. Transforming strategies are being worked upon currently are:Usage Based Insurance (UBI) – this enables the device incorporated in vehicles to capture data and transmit it to the IoT platform which is then managed by UBI platform. This will enable insurance companies to build propositions and take it to market.Intelligent Emergency Calling (eCall) – It enables cars to automatically call emergency services in case of a serious crash.Stolen Vehicle Tracking (SVT) –This is currently implementedThe third largest industry is the IT industry. The world around has evolved with many innovations appearing on a day-to-day basis. These connect machine-to-machine and human-to-machine. Other notable industries that are adopters of IoT are mining, healthcare, banking and education.Some of the companies who are active in IoT space in India areIntel– It is at the top of the ladder in the production of low-power chips to connect IoT devices.Volkswagen- It has added an SAP system that keeps track of their parts’ entire supply pipeline to help them track where items are located at all times.MediaTek: MediaTek has launched LinkIT ONE development platform which helps design and prototype IoT devices and wearables. They have been working greatly in nurturing and mentoring a lot of start-ups as well.Hero MotoCorp- The largest two-wheeler company in the country, with the help of IoT keeps tabs of vehicles available in different locations so that the dealer can be kept informed all the time.Hindustan Petroleum- By using IoT, it automates processes and creates real-time insights into the business. It has installed sensors in field units to capture information such as temperature, pressure etc.Apollo Hospitals– It has envisioned IoT will transform Health care and are exploring IoT in disease management. SUGAR is their diabetes management initiative which enables constant monitoring of the specific blood sugar levels using IoT enabled technology and transform them to personal health record system. It is also looking at IoT in effective inpatient care, post-discharge care and overall preventive health and wellness.Cisco– It is investing in the IoT space by building large teams and localized products.Bharti Infratel– It is using IoT for management and live monitoring of its passive infrastructure like tower, fuel management, energy distribution, monitoring and surveillance on the site etc.TVS Motor – It uses IoT for process automation, process quality control and traceability in shop floor, pollution control and monitoring, measurement of water flow and power consumption.IBM - It is investing heavily in enterprise application infrastructure and databases for connected devices. It is also promoting its cloud-based platform IBM Bluemix heavily amongst the developers.Start-ups:Another player in the ecosystem is Startups. Bangalore, Mumbai, Pune and Hyderabad are the four major cities where you would discover quite a few startups that are making a breakthrough. These are silently disrupting and innovating thereby breaking and creating newer realms each day within the IoT space.One of the pioneering communities in IoT space is IoTBlr which is based out of Bangalore and has been instrumental in driving the IoT ecosystem in India. It is the 2nd largest IoT-focused meet-up community across the world and helps organize different talk, workshops, Hackathons, DIY sessions etc to help spread knowledge and awareness about IoT.IoT HackDay is another group which is a Pan India initiative based out of Hyderabad. This group conducts Hackathons which helps bring collective knowledge and innovation to address the challenges in IoT and smart cities space. This event works towards addressing social challenges with the use of technology which is the need of the hour.All in all, India is making progress and we have exciting years to look forward to. The synergistic working of Government, Industry and Startups will drive the eco-system to new heights.FUTURE OF AI IN INDIA:Recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI) are a wake-up call to policymakers in India, with every one of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s flagship programs likely to be directly affected within the next few years. With China making rapid progress in AI-based research, it is imperative that India view AI as a critical element of national security strategy. Spurring AI-based innovation and establishing AI-ready infrastructure are thus necessary to prepare India’s jobs and skills markets for an AI-based future and to secure its strategic interests.The Challenges Facing India’s AI DevelopmentAI-based applications to date have been driven largely by the private sector and have been focused primarily in consumer goods. The emergent scale and implications of the technology make it imperative for policymakers in government to take notice.Early lessons of AI success in the United States, China, South Korea, and elsewhere offer public and private funding models for AI research that India should consider.The sequential system of education and work is outdated in today’s economic environment as the nature of jobs shifts rapidly and skills become valuable and obsolete in a matter of years.For India to maximally benefit from the AI revolution, it must adopt a deliberate policy to drive AI innovation, adaptation, and proliferation in sectors beyond consumer goods and information technology services.Policymakers should make AI a critical component of the prime minister’s flagship Make in India, Skill India, and Digital India programs by offering incentives for manufacturers, creating regional innovation clusters for manufacturing automation and robotics in partnership with universities and start-ups, incorporating market-based mechanisms for identifying the kind of skills that employers will value in the future, and promoting cloud infrastructure capacity building inside India.The National Education Policy must make radical recommendations on alternative models of education that would be better suited to an AI-powered economy of the future.The government should identify public sector applications like detecting tax fraud, preventing subsidy leakage, and targeting beneficiaries, where current advances in AI could make a significant impact.India must view machine intelligence as a critical element of its national security strategy and evaluate models of defense research in collaboration with the private sector and universities.Short-Term ActionsIn the immediate term, policymakers in India should make AI a critical component of the prime minister’s flagship programs. As an example, within the Make in India program, India must create special incentives for manufacturers, such as relaxing regulations and lowering trade barriers, so they:Invest in automation research in India by building research labs and design studios in IndiaCreate regional innovation clusters, districts, and corridors by building strong linkages around manufacturing automation and robotics between universities and start-ups in IndiaMake India a global hub for machine intelligence–based innovation in manufacturingSimilarly, the Skill India initiative should be reworked with the twin objectives of being resilient to skills obsolescence through market-based instruments that tie together the employers, the training institutes, and the students as well as paying special attention to new skills needed to survive in an AI-led economy in the future.Digital India must be reconfigured to establish cloud infrastructure inside India on a fast-track basis: the limited capacity as it stands today is a critical infrastructure gap and a national security risk. As a part of the Digital India initiative, New Delhi must create specific incentives for building large-scale data centers in India, ideally in partnership with the state governments. The government must identify specific regions in India that are geographically suited for building massive data centers, with an assured supply of power and other critical public infrastructure required for such facilities, and promote these as preferred destinations for investment in cloud infrastructure in India under the Digital India scheme.The spirit of Startup India, that of creative destruction rather than protectionism, must be allowed to prevail. Recent regulatory decisions in India across cities and states bearing down on taxi aggregators Uber and Ola are regressive and counterproductive; these well-intentioned regulations must be eliminated if AI is to achieve its full potential. Unless the government and domestic industry allow the marketplace to experiment with untested business models enabled by the so-called peer economy, it is unlikely that the economy will create jobs resilient to and in an AI-driven economy. It is imperative to recognize that improving start-ups’ ease of doing business is not merely a regulatory measure to incubate or liquidate a business, but also a free market initiative to allow new and efficient business models to thrive.For the first time in the history of democratic India, the formulation of a new education policy has been undertaken with a nationwide process of consultation and crowdsourcing. The massive task of analyzing the inputs received and devising the new policy is challenged both by the volume of the inputs and the complexity of myriad issues across India. Formulating the new education policy must not, however, be based solely on inputs received that are affected by current challenges, constraints, and limitations. The National Education Policy must take a long-term view of the skills economy, evaluate the continued relevance of the current system of sequential education, and make radical recommendations on alternative models of education that would be better suited to the economy of the future. Piloting and experimenting in such new models of education must commence in the immediate future before the rapid obsolescence of the current system begins.Medium-Term Applications of AI in the Public SectorThe government should identify public-sector applications in India where current advances in AI could make a significant impact toward building skills and capabilities domestic applications of AI. For example, New Delhi could:Apply AI-based techniques to recognize patterns and learn about tax evasion behavior, in an effort to mine public databases to detect tax fraud and money obtained illegally with the goal of minimizing tax evasion and maximizing tax revenueUse AI to scan records, recognize patterns of fraud, and correlate subsidy claims with other consumer data to help detect leakages of subsidies and to learn and better target direct benefits to citizens through interventions most relevant to themDevelop natural language–processing capabilities to automate multilingual communication and interactivity across a whole range of government services and interfaces, for example, crowdsourcing via MyGov: A Platform for Citizen Engagement towards Good Governance in India, voice calls, automated helplines, and chatbots for the most routine citizen-government interactionsUse AI-based training and teaching software in various skilling and educational applicationsIn each of these areas, the government should collaborate with the private sector and university research labs to leverage existing technologies effectively and to rapidly create new technologies to address specific and well-defined problems.Long-Term StrategyIndia must view machine intelligence as a critical element of its national security strategy. At a time when AI is being viewed as a key component of foreign policy between the United States and Japan, with similar proposals of treatment being floated in India, the Indian government must formulate a national strategy on emerging technology trends with long-term strategic consequences.India must seriously evaluate the DARPA model of defense research in conjunction with private sector and university collaboration in order to create dual-purpose technologies with a scope large enough to allow for development of civilian technology applications. Specifically, the Cyber Grand Challenge model of DARPA needs to be examined for its successful incentivization of academia and the private sector.India must view machine intelligence as a critical element of its national security strategy.The proposed National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID) platform, which would link citizen databases, might be a good pilot candidate for creating a machine intelligence–based platform with both national security and civilian benefits and should thus be taken up on a mission mode. Another possibility is Aadhaar, a platforms-based approach to governance founded on massive data sets, which builds on the possibility articulated in Rebooting India.Authors Nandan Nilekani and Viral Shah enumerate five data-based platforms that could address a broad range of governance challenges. Expanding this list to ten public databases encompassing state and local governments would enable a robust machine intelligence architecture capable of plugging leakages in subsidies, better targeting benefits, and expanding the tax base.ConclusionFrom NATGRID to Aadhaar, machine intelligence–powered platforms can become a strategic instrument of governance in India across a wide range of public services. These platforms are not without their challenges: a machine intelligence–powered approach to governance will require robust digital privacy laws and a code of ethics on limits to using AI. However, the range of AI’s possibilities is so vast that the full spectrum of its opportunities is difficult to fully comprehend. While India may be late to wake up to the AI revolution, Indians of many hues—consumers, technocrats, researchers, and entrepreneurs—are already participants in this revolution with many of Indian origin driving and influencing research in the United States and elsewhere. A clarion call from the prime minister to all of them, to come together and help build an AI ecosystem in India, will go a long way for India to not merely catch up to but to take a quantum leap into the AI-driven future.Source Links:IoT League- Internet of thingshttp://carnegieindia.org