tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4501419294567207665.post9215658873025890474..comments2024-01-01T18:40:30.350-05:00Comments on Ryan Cooper: Power and EvilRyanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03810858979281766801noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4501419294567207665.post-63055971282846926792012-04-15T13:59:30.377-04:002012-04-15T13:59:30.377-04:00Well yeah, that's basically the conclusion of ...Well yeah, that's basically the conclusion of yesterday's post. I don't think the dry language of game theory really captures this process, I think that the kind of people who end up in power in every country are almost always fundamentally twisted on a moral level, want more power above all else, and will do almost anything to get it. "Incentives" in this case includes things like public disgrace and prison.<br /><br />This really doesn't bear much on my point here though, which is that unrestrained rulers are often cruel <em>for no reason at all</em>. They're not self-dealing, or giving their brother a contract, or whatever, they're just being cruel for its own sake.Ryan Cooperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17164379024023137718noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4501419294567207665.post-896757902317035072012-04-15T13:43:38.843-04:002012-04-15T13:43:38.843-04:00Public Choice in fact would predict that rulers ac...Public Choice in fact would predict that rulers act willfully awful when they're insufficiently incentivized to please the citizenry in general; they choose rather their own inner circle.<br /><br />Bruce Bueno de Mesquita is a good read on the above point.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17264167700674336761noreply@blogger.com