Thirty seconds! That's all it took for the Speaker of the British House of Commons, Michael Martin, to announce his resignation. It is said that there are two things that are certain in life: taxation and death. But in fact, there is a third: political scandals.

British voters have been screaming for blood ever since the "expense scandal" emerged. Amid a recession where British workers have been losing jobs and the average man has had to band his belly, it was brought to light that members of Parliament of all political stripes have been abusing a particular allowance regime. British members of Parliament exploited their position, claiming payment from taxpayers' money for almost everything - from dog food to the installation of lavish chandeliers.

It was against this background that Michael Martin had to resign. His main sin on this count was his harsh rebuke of the members of Parliament who supported the publication of the expenses. What a day that will be in Jamaican politics when politicians associated with a scandal will rise and say "I relinquish the office"!

There is a tendency for human beings to cheat when there is a good chance of getting away with it. Athletes will use drugs to make them outsprint their competitors, and investors will use insider trade information to score big, on the stock market. Politicians are, therefore, not unique.

What is unique is the politician's position in the scheme of things. When an athlete cheats, a couple of his rivals lose; when a stock market investor takes part in a shady transaction, a few honest traders suffer. But when a politician cheats, the progress of a nation may suffer a setback and the development of his country is put in jeopardy.

Political scandals

Strictly on the basis of frequency of political scandals in Jamaica, it might be argued that there are two underlying traits in the Jamaican politician and voters that increase the country's vulnerability to political abuse and corruption.

The first is that the Jamaican politician approaches the world with a strong sense of entitlement. As such, he believes that joining the back of the queue, when that is what he should do, is really beneath him, and he revels in the idea of being escorted though a traffic congestion with blaring sirens. But not just that - he has no qualms about arrogating to himself all sorts of privileges and benefits that do not belong to him.

The second condition affects not the politicians, but the Jamaican electorate. Some behavioural economists would refer to it as 'weak reciprocity'. There is a tendency among humans to deny themselves of certain benefits in order to punish others who are perceived to be greedy.

This is best illustrated by behavioural economists in an experiment that is referred to as the 'ultimate game'. In this game, two persons must play together anonymously as partners. The players are given a chance to split, say $1,000, between them. The rules are simple: only the first person can decide how to split the $1,000. He can choose to offer the second person any amount - $500, $200, or nothing. However, if the second person rejects the offer made by his partner, nobody gets any money. Naturally, the less the first person offers, the more he can keep for himself.

Political greed

Behavioural economists have observed after performing the experiment numerous times, that when the first person makes an offer below $200, the second person routinely rejects it. Of course, rationally speaking, if the second person gets $150, it is better than nothing. Yet, human beings are willing to turn down even a free benefit to punish others who act out of callous self interest and greed. This is what is called 'strong reciprocity'.

Unfortunately, the inclination to punish political greed and corruption is weak in the Jamaica electorate. Maybe it is the Jamaican fascination with 'Anancyism'. Anancy, the folklore hero, the spider - with human characteristics that deceives his friends and outwits his foes to take home more spoils - at the end of the day continues to permeate the Jamaican psyche. It might just be this subterranean admiration for the trickery of Anancy that causes the electorate to go soft on unworthy politicians. Nothing else can explain why, after so many scandals in recent years, tainted politicians continue to prosper and the poor continue to suffer.

There are many theories that seek to explain the low level of Jamaica's development - size of the economy, the legacy of colonialism, inadequate resource endowment - but increasingly, it is becoming clear that the dominant factor is the problem of political leadership. Good leadership ensures that the sense of entitlement present in politicians does not become dominant and debilitating. Visionary leadership puts in place the necessary checks and balances to ensure the path of national development is not blocked by political insensitivity, recklessness, greed and corruption.

The 'expense scandal' in Britain has sparked a discussion on the measures that should be enacted to close the loopholes. On the contrary, in Jamaica, when there is a scandal, the debate is often centred on whether it is an attempt by the other party to gain political mileage.

Jamaica's electorate needs to progress to a point of strong reciprocity, where a politician with the slightest whiff of scandal will have 30 seconds to say, "I relinquish."

Cedric Wilson is an economist who specialises in market regulations. He may be contacted at conoswil@hotmail.com or columns@gleanerjm.com.