Spies isn’t everything: Putin’s global-chaos machine

<p>Aggression, election-meddling, “psychological destabilisation”: Russia’s leader is sowing chaos <a href="https://www.economist.com/international/2024/10/13/vladimir-putins-spies-are-plotting-global-chaos?utm_campaign=a.io&amp;utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&amp;utm_source=theintelligence&amp;utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&amp;utm_term=sa.listeners" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">like never before</a>. We ask what power the West has left to curtail it. As entitlements such as pensions have unceasingly grown, rich governments have become inefficient, <a href="https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2024/09/23/governments-are-bigger-than-ever-they-are-also-more-useless?utm_campaign=a.io&amp;utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&amp;utm_source=theintelligence&amp;utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&amp;utm_term=sa.listeners" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">lumbering beasts</a>. One uncomfortable but clean fix is raising taxes (10:26). And Britain’s swish new offerings attempt to dethrone the <a href="https://www.economist.com/britain/2024/10/10/britains-obsession-with-baked-beans?utm_campaign=a.io&amp;utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&amp;utm_source=theintelligence&amp;utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&amp;utm_term=sa.listeners" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">revered baked bean</a> (18:10).</p><br /><p><em>Get a world of insights by </em><a href="https://subscribenow.economist.com/podcasts-plus" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>subscribing to Economist Podcasts+</em></a><em>. For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our </em><a href="https://myaccount.economist.com/s/article/What-is-Economist-Podcasts" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>FAQs page</em></a><em> or watch </em><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gczo71bg1uY" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>our video</em></a><em> explaining how to link your account.</em></p><hr /><p style="color: grey; font-size: 0.75em;"> Hosted on Acast. See <a href="https://acast.com/privacy" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: grey;" target="_blank">acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>