The frauds within

One of the arguments against opening up multi-brand retail to multinational corporations is that MNCs resort to corrupt practices without remorse. Walmart has become the face of that evil. Detractors have linked together three disclosures: one, made in November, that the retailer is probing a possible violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (of the United States) in India; two, made earlier in the month, that it has spent $25 million since 2008 on lobbying in the US, which includes gaining “enhanced market access in India”; and three, that Walmart bribed local bureaucrats in Mexico, as alleged by The New York Times. Straightforward and gullible Indians are a worried lot; the deceit of the East India Company is still fresh on their minds. Wolves are at our doors once again.

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