'Of course, it is hard to describe what an "institution" really is. It is even harder to convert a bad institution into a good one.'<p>How does the government keep from eating itself in corruption?  We assume this government has reached a steady state by taking only half but not all.  However, as the article cites the more corruption you do the more your supporters will do, and the only way to stay in power is to let your supporters be corrupt.  Since you're not really building any value, or letting value take root it seems like a prolonged history of this will eventually eat itself without fresh infusions of capital from outside parties.  The article hints at this, but it's hard to control it because your supporters are doing it too and might not realize you can't take too much.  Plus when outside markets go down I doubt corruption wants to take less in those times.  It seems like it will lead to eventual erosion because rebuilding value when markets come back are less likely to happen.