Cigarettes: The Most Stable International Currency - Businessweek:
The way to a corrupt official’s heart is through his lungs. Or at least his smokes.
Cartons of Good Cat brand cigarettes are selling for as much as RMB5,600 (US$890) per carton in the city of Xi’an, in the Chinese province of Shaanxi. The suspicion, according to reports last week, is that they are being used to bribe officials.
In China, where giving and sharing cigarettes is customary and a large percentage of people smoke, luxury cigarettes have become a common currency for bribery. “Because of corruption, you cannot do business, in effect, you can do nothing, if you don’t send gifts to those in power,” says an editorial from Xinhua News Agency.
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