Pay them!

Many who travel to third world destinations find themselves in a shake-down where some street cop wants cash to let the gringo/gringita on his/her merry way. The standard explanation is that salaries are so low that this is the only plausible remedy.

Now this from Germany. Large numbers of university professors have been found taking bribes from their doctoral students. And why do they sink to this? Because, they say, they are so poorly paid.

Yikes! Many universities across the US (including the University of California system) are now implementing pay cuts for faculty.

Perhaps Becker-Posner were right: It's much better to dig into endowments.