Why corruption matters

I'm willing to accept, as Bill and Melinda Gates have tried to argue, that the actual/absolute cost of corruption is small, but the problem goes deeper. Like earmarks in the US (NationalReview), even small amounts of corruption can lead to spending/action that shouldn't have been done in the first place.

Chris Blattman goes one step further noting that large scale aid is often creates the incentives for corruption "giving absolute sovereignty to the head of state, channeling funds through central government, making a handful of ministries powerful gatekeepers, and sending good money after bad."