When a large state is vastly more fragile, it requiresa an extraordinary increased expenditure in moneterin. So when we take russia for example, that has always been a large state, it has to create an identity and of course be aggressive. But as we know from tromp's experience, he went to washington, you know, he he had to face a interstructure that was entirely hostile,. because they were all democrats and didn't like him. And you can do so little. It takes a long time to change an administrationand when at large, itis iis one is large, it is a severe problem.
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.