The Indicator from Planet Money · Tuesday, June 30, 2026
Economist Chris Blattman suggests that leaders may initiate wars because they are not directly bearing the costs, particularly true for autocrats. Additionally, flawed information and psychological biases can lead to misperceptions about an adversary's strength, as seen in Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
“Take Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Putin wasn't paying the costs of this war directly.”
“This is true of many leaders, even democratic ones, but it's especially true of autocrats.”
“Most people say that Putin was overconfident.”
“They say that he was overconfident either because of his psychological bias or because he was getting bad information.”