According to the Roman Emperor Tiberius, a ruler can either “shear the sheep” for many years, by encouraging productive activity from which to generate tax revenues, or he can “skin them alive” just once. By brazenly using the US government to pillage the country, President Donald Trump has apparently chosen the knife.

CHICAGO—Is there any way to make sense of US President Donald Trump’s peculiar approach to governance? The economist Mancur Olson offered a framework nearly three decades ago in his work on the origin of states. 

Drawing a contrast between “roving” and “stationary” bandits, Olsen surmised that governments form when roving bandits settle down to exploit those immediately around them. Having become stationary, they can pursue one of two tactics: Encourage economic activity that can then be taxed, or pillage freely. You can “shear the sheep” for many years, as the Roman Emperor Tiberius may have said, or you can “skin them alive” just once.

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