Slush fund
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| Political corruption |
 Corruption Perceptions Index, 2010 |
| Concepts |
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Bribery · Cronyism · Economics of corruption |
| Corruption by country |
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Angola · Armenia · Bahrain · Canada · Chile · China |
A slush fund, colloquially, is an auxiliary monetary account or a reserve fund. However, in the context of corrupt dealings, such as those by governments or large corporations, a slush fund can have particular connotations of illegality, illegitimacy, or secrecy in regard to the use of this money and the means by which the funds were acquired.
Political dealings with slush funds tend to create suspicions of quid pro quo (buying political favors), and can be viewed on the surface as corrupt and subversive of the democratic process. For example, Richard Nixon's "Checkers speech" of 1952 was a successful effort to dispel a scandal concerning a rumored slush fund of campaign contributions.
The term slush fund is used in accounting to describe a general ledger account in which all manner of transactions can be posted to commingled funds and "loose" monies by debits' and credits' cancelling each other out.
[edit] Etymology
The term slush fund was originally a nautical term: the slush was the fat or grease that was obtained by boiling salted meat. The sale of the fat could then be used to provide the crew with special luxuries. The money obtained from this sale was placed into the slush fund.[1]
[edit] References
- ^ Adkins R: "Nelson's Trafalgar, The Battle That Changed the World.", page 37. Viking Penguin, 2005
