In Germany the term corruption is not used by the media, it is "scandals" or "lobbying", although it is often crystal clear corruption. Don't forget the latest mask scandal.[1] And this is pursued only because the pressure of the public is so great, because it is incomprehensible that the authorities stuff their pockets while the majority abides by rules. There is no real punishment. In my opinion there is a lot of corruption in Germany disguised as lobbyism. There are superb initiatives like LobbyControl[2] who want to put stricter laws in place to publicize lobbying.

[1]: https://www.reuters.com/world/german-politician-resigns-part...

[2]: https://www.lobbycontrol.de/

EDIT: Added lobbycontrol paragraph

And don't forget the "Berateraffäre", centered around the person that was then rewarded with a promotion to head of the European commission.

https://www.politico.eu/article/the-scandal-hanging-over-urs...

It emerged that Bafin employees were allowed to invest their own pensions during the scenario with insider information. That's pretty shocking. It calls into question why they took legal action against the FT[1] instead of investigating the claims more thoroughly.

[1] https://www.ft.com/content/8e1948be-6060-11e9-b285-3acd5d435...

EDIT to add link: https://www.financemagnates.com/fintech/news/bafin-blames-em...

> It calls into question why they took legal action against the FT[1] instead of investigating the claims more thoroughly.

I could totally believe and expect this. Once was working at Berlin startup with German executive director. On some unfavourable reviews appearing on Glassdoor he started profiling employees and throwing Aufhebungsvertrags at them (if you read this come at me mate). He didn't attempt to address or even admit the problems. I paid for it with long months of mental burnout.

The corruption is low among general population and low-level government offices. High business is very corrupt. Moreover, Germany used to have laws that didn't punish corruption abroad, so they exported massive corruption to Eastern Europe. If you see Eastern Europe as being corrupt, it's because of the sums that arrived there from the West - basically creating a friendly mafia.

Eastern bloc became extremely corrupted under the Soviet rule, so Western capital which arrived here was met with much eagerness the accept the bribes...

Having witnessed "privatisation" during the 90s and 00s in post-Communist Europe, I know what you mean. "Capital has no nationality", they were seriously saying and printing this all over.

Germany's behavior was listed in my globalization MBA course as an example of negative effects of globalization and why it is not perceived favorably in some countries, so I am curious how it looked from inside?

Because we see no consequences when top politicians do it. So, it t trickles down.

One politic psychologist basically said (years back) corruption stinks from the fish head.

I think you may be looking for the expression “a fish rots from the head.”

We'll see about Deutsche and Trump soon too!

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/05/nyregion/trump-taxes-vanc...