This notion of corruption captures the operation of strongman regimes. They turn the economy into an instrument of leader wealth creation, but also encourage changes in ethical and behavioral norms to make things that were illegal or immoral appear acceptable, whether election fraud, torture, or sexual assault. “What Putin and Erdogan could get away with at the beginning of their terms in office is nothing compared to what they can get away with now,” noted the economist Daron Acemoglu in 2020.
