India must embrace a modern view of corruption--a view in which leaders are not merely judged by their conduct, but by the conduct they permit on their watch.

Yet another food scandal is gripping China--tons of melamine-contaminated milk products were seized from warehouses in Chongqing. The milk problem is the the tenth serious food scandal in just the past few years. It provides more evidence of the inability of China's officials, corporations, and consumers to prevent lethal production.

India's problems do not stem from crony capitalism but crony socialism, the continued hold of an often corrupt and inept political class on economic decision making. Like most countries, India could do with greater competition and fewer barriers to entry for new businesses. But it's India's politicians and bureaucrats who need reining in, not its billionaires.

History is clear that as an empirical matter, booms induce fraud and swindling.

The bill from years of backward governance may at last be coming due.

In India, it's been the year of the scam. Over the past 12 months, allegations of graft or wrongdoing have touched, among others, Parliament, the media, mining, construction, hospitals, airlines, and sports. But after bubbling for the better part of a year, India's national debate over corruption may finally have come to a boil.

In all three states at the center of the debate over reining in the public-sector unions-Wisconsin, Indiana, and Ohio-Republicans have taken control of the governorships and the state legislatures.

While the intent of theSarbanes-Oxley Actwas to prevent corporate fraud, there is growing evidence that it has done more harm than good.