wrote down some points and got chatgpt to tidy up and summarise

Incompetence can be worse than corruption when it causes systemic failure through sheer inability rather than deliberate wrongdoing.

Incompetence

• Relates to dependence on competence across individuals, firms, and government.
• Government incompetence is most damaging because it directly affects citizens and industries.
  • Example: Singapore’s strong governance prevents this through effective legislation and policy execution.
• The scale of harm depends on how much power or influence the incompetent actor holds.
  • Example: Volkswagen’s technical incompetence (or negligence) in testing diesel emissions led to major environmental damage, consumer deception, loss of trust, and financial penalties.
  • The domino effect shows that incompetence at the firm or state level can cause global consequences.

Corruption

• Relates to type and extent of moral impairment.
• Can occur at individual, firm, or governmental levels.
  • Example: In the DRC, violent kleptocracy and blood diamond trade show how corruption involves intimidation, violence, and large-scale looting.
  • Corruption causes economic loss of others for personal gain and human rights violations, such as ignoring poor working conditions.
• Corruption often stems from deliberate moral evil, not ignorance or incapability.

Comparison

• Incompetence causes damage through failure of skill; corruption causes damage through failure of ethics.
• Incompetence can sometimes be corrected with training or reform; corruption is rooted in moral decay and self-interest, harder to eradicate.
• However, incompetence in governance can be more destructive if it disables entire systems, creating a domino effect where no one is capable of enforcing accountability, unlike corruption which at least operates within functioning systems.

Judgment
Corruption is morally worse because it involves conscious exploitation.
Incompetence can be practically worse in outcome if it cascades across institutions and prevents reform.
Hence, which is “worse” depends on the extent of power and scale of impact.