How do people feel when the leaders of government become rich while in office? Even if there is not direct theft of funds, there's the understandable suspicion that corrupt use of influence and power has led to the accretion of wealth.
I'm sniffling with a cold and so I don't have the energy to analyze how different leaders became wealthy while in government service. That would be a great blog, but I'm not up to it right now. However, I do have the energy to create a list of leaders and show how much (according to public sources) the leaders were worth when they took office and how much they were worth when they left office.
Most leaders are paid a salary. I've given for each leader the amount of that salary. Is that sum sufficient to explain the growth in personal worth for the different individuals? If not, then we can think a bit about how leaders might have used the levers of power to enrich themselves.
It's surprisingly difficult (to me) how hard it is to find out what a public figure was worth years ago, when they entered office. Couldn't find figures for Tony Blair, Sarkozy, Thatcher, for example. I didn't look hard but it was much easier to find that information about U.S. presidents
I'm not including wealth accrued after leaders left office. That's simply opportunism. It's not graft.
USA (Presidents)
Salary $400,000
Clinton net worth when he took office was $700,000
When he left office: $16 million in debtGeorge W. Bush entered office:$20 million
George W. Bush net worth in 2008:9 1/2 millionObama on taking office 1.3 million
Obama: 12.2 million on leaving officeDonald Trump first term:2016: 1.3 billion
Donald Trump 2020: 1.7 billionJoe Biden on entering office: $8 million
Biden leaving office: $10 millionDonald Trump Second Term: entering 4.3 billion
Donald Trump (one year later) December 2025:7.3 billion
Russia
Salary: $140,000
Vladimir Putin net worth when he became president in 1999 $203,281
Vladimir Putin net worth today (actually, no one knows) 200 billion
Canada (Prime Minister)
Salary: $400,000
Pierre Trudeau net worth on entering office $1.5 million
Leaving office $2.7 million
India
Salary $22,294
Prime Minister Modi worth in 2014 upon entering office $197,000
PM Modi worth today $400,000
From the examples above, we can take a stab at a few conclusions (the data may not be correct, so we are guessing).
- If you want to become the leader of your country, it helps to be rich
- You do not have to be very rich...look at Clinton, Putin and Modi.
- Not everyone gets rich while in office. It certainly doesn't hurt the wallet to be a leader (unless, like Bill Clinton, you get taken to court and have many legal bills). George Bush seems to have taken a hit while in office, but then his presidency ended in the middle of a global financial crisis. Don't worry about him...he rebounded, afterwards.
- It is possible to greatly enrich yourself while being leader--look at Putin and Trump, especially this past year of Trump's second term.
If one doesn't directly steal from the national treasury, how can a leader get rich in office? It's simple if the leader has a hand in business while at the same time directing national policy. It's very easy to ingratiate oneself with a foreign leader, for example, and then negotiate a lucrative business deal. There is not direct quid-pro-quo, but an exchange for value does exist. One can direct national policy--say, for example, loosen up constraints on the crypto market while creating your own crypto entity.
Do you live in a kleptocracy? Or is your leader a grifter? If that's the case, does this bother you? Does it personally cost you money if a leader is grifting?
What if government policy--decisions about foreign relations, for example--are influenced by a leader's hunger for a business profit? Does that hurt the country? Or should the leader only make foreign policy decisions with the good of the country in mind?
I'm shooting these questions off the top of my head. As I said, I have a cold and am not thinking deeply.
The picture for this blog was created before the narrative was written. Below are listed the sources for all the elements in the collage.
I love making a collage. I was stressed a few days ago because someone in my family was ill (it's been a challenging week). The collage helped me to relax. Best drug I have :)
Sources for my collage:
World leader at the lectern: Pixabay
Seal on the front of the lectern Pixabay
Chandelier Pixabay
Man pushing cart full of money Unsplash
Coins Pixabay
About making a collage. Please do! LMAC is a welcoming community. Collage is a great way for people who are not artists (me) to express themselves visually. All my life I've lived in a verbal universe. That's my comfort zone. Years ago 
There are community rules. You can read about them on our community page. Right now we are not running a contest, but we always accept free-form collages for curation.
Thank you for reading my blog.
Peace and health to all.
https://noplaceforrumors.wordpress.com/?s=adam+smith
https://pixabay.com/vectors/barack-hussein-obama-ii-president-294379/
https://pixabay.com/vectors/seal-usa-eagle-flag-united-states-294494/
https://pixabay.com/photos/chandelier-royal-palace-compiegne-525405/
https://pixabay.com/photos/money-making-coin-finances-cash-3080876/
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