Why Leaders Lie: The Truth about Lying in International Politics | Cato Institute: Book Forum

Why Leaders Lie: The Truth about Lying in International Politics | Cato Institute: Book Forum

In a recent book forum John Mearsheimer pointed out that many of our leaders have lied about foreign affairs. In fact, by his reckoning democratically elected leaders were more likely to lie, particularly if a country had an expansive foreign policy.

This is something we should consider when determining whether it is a good idea to intervene overseas. The information that we obtain regarding conditions there might not be accurate. Which ever president is serving will have a strong incentive to lie in order to support policies that he or she believes are right. The press will increase its profit by selling to a wide audience at little cost. This means that money spent on reporting will suffer. Collecting information about human conditions in distant lands is quite expensive.

For these reasons the press will have an incentive to believe the administration's reports about atrocities, which are likely to be exaggerated. The more atrocities, the better the story will be at attracting an audience and hence advertising revenue. Granted it will make a good story if the administration is caught lying, but in order to publish or broadcast a story exposing such a lie the news organization would have to collect the necessary information.

In addition, a majority of the people will likely have voted for the individual they are accusing. Many people will want to defend the president. Questioning the administration might earn the news organization a reputation for biased coverage.

Some people might find my description of news organization to be a bit cynical. After hearing me explain them some years ago, a friend of mine informed me that advertising and reporting were two separate functions of a newspaper. This may be so, but a newspaper will be motivated to put out stories that will sell. Those businesses that operate in a manner that leads to a loss will shrink, and those that profit will grow. Most news organizations are businesses.

Some might think that I am advocating radical change in the way that they are run. I don't support that. Placing the decision about what to run with the news organizations themselves is better than any of the alternatives. Everyone has some incentive or another.