HeyJaredModern Autocracy by Simon Commander and Saul Estrin
Simon Commander and Saul Estrin's views on Modern Autocracy: its Varieties and Consequences
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- Sep 24, 2026
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- Sep 1, 2026
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Wealth inequality: are autocracies always more unequal? (opens the original)
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One of our earlier post (https://substack.com/@modernautocracy/p-198246140) examined the relationship between political systems and income inequality and whether autocracies are more unequal than democracies. We now look at wealth inequality through the lens of different political systems. A priori, we might reasonably expect that autocracies would have high wealth inequality due to their rulers’ appetite for private rents. This appetite could be expected to skew the distribution of economic rew
How Political Systems Shape Military Innovation: War as a Natural Experiment (opens the original)
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How countries wage war tells a good deal about their political systems and the Russia-Ukraine war offers a rare natural experiment in this respect. Both countries were part of the Soviet Union for 73 years and inherited a similar political legacy as well as a centralised defence industry. Yet by 2022, Russia had become a personalised autocracy while Ukraine was a (weak) democracy. These contrasting political evolutions – coupled to differences in access to resources, notably manpower – allow us
Concentration and market power: it’s not just about autocracies - The case of India (opens the original)
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After our summer break we return with a post about concentration. Our previous posts have argued that autocracies’ economies are mostly dominated by a mix of state-owned companies and those owned or controlled by themselves, their families and cronies. This naturally gives rise to considerable concentration, whether of assets or revenues. Yet both concentration and cronyism can also be features of democracies – and India is an interesting case in point.From Independence in 1947 until quite recen
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