Manila: For decades, the debate here has often treated corruption as the prime reason for the country's economic woes.The standard explanation goes something like this: weak institutions and a culture of patronage create fertile ground for "rent-seeking" — public money gets siphoned into unproductive uses, businesses face political gatekeeping, and investment retreats in the face of uncertainty and favouritism.The shakedown of private businesses by taxmen/regulators, and hardship (as opposed to ease) of doing business, are constants of life in these parts.These are not unique to the Philippines. And it's not like only the government here is corrupt. It's deeply embedded the what-are-we-in-power-for psyche.Economic historian and University of California-Berkeley (UCB) professor Lisandro Elias "Leloy" Estrada Claudio challenges part of that conventional wisdom in his latest book, The Profligate Colonial: How the US Exported Austerity to the Philippines.Dr. Claudio's key argument: it's not that corruption is an unimportant determinant of underdevelopment. The 41-year-old Filipino academic and author is currently an assistant professor of Southeast Asian Studies at the UCB, and is known for his works on Philippine history, politics, and society.The shakedown of businesses by taxmen, alongside massive money leaks at Customs, Congress/Senate, and Executive branches all compound and conspire to keep the Asian nation in the dolldrums, eating the dust of neighbours. A different question