The Predictioneer's Game Quotes

“The difference between doing a good job and doing a lousy job is driven by how many people a leader has to keep happy.”
― Bruce Bueno De Mesquita, Prediction: How to See and Shape the Future with Game Theory

“What I do have is the lesson I learned in my “Aha!” moment: Politics is predictable. All that is needed is a tool—like my model—that takes basic information, evaluates it by assuming everyone does what they think is best”
― Bruce Bueno de Mesquita, The Predictioneer's Game: Using the Logic of Brazen Self-Interest to See and Shape the Future

“Being born in North Korea pretty much ensures having a miserable life. The average North Korean has to work an entire year to earn what an average American, Irish, or Norwegian worker makes in around four days. Money isn’t everything, but it is a pretty good first-cut approximation of quality of life.”
― Bruce Bueno de Mesquita, The Predictioneer's Game: Using the Logic of Brazen Self-Interest to See and Shape the Future

“It’s nice to think that leaders who provide peace and plenty rule for long, happy years, beloved by the people and content to do good for them day and night. But in fact those who want to run a country for a long time are ill advised to go around promoting peace and prosperity. Not that making people well off is inherently bad for leaders; it isn’t. It’s just that promoting corruption and misery is better. That was well understood by Leopold and Mobutu in the Congo, and is clearly understood today by the governments in places like North Korea, Zimbabwe, Turkmenistan, Chad, Syria … sadly, the list goes on. It so happens that leaders who are really good at giving their people life, liberty, and happiness are, overwhelmingly, democratically elected and therefore face organized political competition.”
― Bruce Bueno de Mesquita, The Predictioneer's Game: Using the Logic of Brazen Self-Interest to See and Shape the Future

“No fool stays in power for years on end when there are so many generals, sons, and wives waiting in the wings to launch a coup.”
― Bruce Bueno De Mesquita, The Predictioneer's Game: Using the Logic of Brazen Self-Interest to See and Shape the Future