The Value of the Small Scale Is to Maintain Skin in the Game

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A local ruler, bureaucrat in brussels is not going to be punished if the bridge doesn't work well. It worked very well in sweden andndin the scandinavian countries there arready small, and they got smaller. But that's a very lovely idea, but it doesn't, i don't know hw you get there from here. Let meayou have to look at where it worked, adand how it worked.

A language, a flag, a national anthem and shared history—like a heart that has to pump harder to support a heavier body, the bigger a nation gets, the harder to curate an identity. Nassim Nicholas Taleb talks about scale and governance with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. Taleb sings the virtues of smaller relative to larger and decentralized as much as possible relative to centralized. Along the way, he provides a framework for Russia's war against Ukraine and explains why the United States has thrived despite its size and scope.