Financial Transparency Coalition

Since the 1999 Duma election, which was widely considered free and fair, Russia has descended from a “Partly Free” society, according to Freedom House’s Freedom in the World Rankings, to “Not Free” this year. In the last six years, Russia has passed a law giving bureaucrats discretion to shut down NGOs; an assassin murdered Anna Politkovskaya, an investigative journalist who was critical of the Kremlin, in cold blood; and the government heavily manipulated the parliamentary elections to give a majority to pro-government parties. Corruption has been an endemic part of Russia’s public and private sectors for decades. Global Financial Integrity...

Every time I ride my bike by a corn field inOregon—full and glowing—I feel a little bit thankful. I am thankful for our mild summer heat, this year and others. Thankful forOregon’s efforts to create a more sustainable food system. And particularly thankful that I live in country where record high temperatures don’t affect my ability to feed myself. It’s not true everywhere. Record heat across the U.S. Midwest has battered corn crops, making it likely this year’s harvest will be one of the lowest in years—and sent prices soaring. As a result, consumers in the United States will have...

In a fiery speech to the Democratic National Convention on Monday, Mayor of Newark Cory Booker bellowed: “Being asked to pay your fair share isn't class warfare. It's patriotism.” It’s a sentiment that’s been often repeated on the campaign trail in the last few weeks. Vice President Joe Biden made the same suggestion in a campaign speech in New Hampshire. “Wealthy people are just as patriotic as middle-class people, as poor people, and they know they should be doing more,” said Vice President Biden. “We’re not supposed to have a system with one set of rules for the wealthy and...

In this Prezi, the final installment of a three-part series, I put illicit financial flows into context around the world.