i think there's a tradition that i both love and am suspicious of, which is using the economic tool the economists tool kit to understand various forms of human havior. Nations are a little more complicated than just one actor or single nation; it can be productive to think of them nations that way. A lot of political scientists pick up this book and they say, oh, this is our toolkit. But then they'd look at this other chapter and they'd say,Oh, it what is that all about? And i think that's so so I tryto much of my research and my own training. You know, hopefully everybody feels a little ownership of this, cause that's
It's tempting to explain Russia's invasion of Ukraine with Putin's megalomania. Economist Chris Blattman of the University of Chicago talks about his book Why We Fight with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. Blattman explains why only a fraction of rivalries ever erupt into violence, the five main reasons adversaries can't arrive at compromise, and the problem with trying to get into Putin's head (and why it's not all about Putin. Really).