The first panacea for a mismanaged nation is inflation of the currency; the second is war. Both bring a temporary prosperity; both bring a permanent ruin. But both are the refuge of political and economic opportunists.

The easy road to ruin

When things go wrong at a national level, leaders face pressure to do something—anything—fast. Printing more money feels like relief. Wages rise, spending picks up, people feel briefly hopeful. War has the same effect: factories hum, jobs materialize, national purpose crystallizes. The problem is both are shortcuts that feel like solutions. The prosperity is real enough in the moment, but it's built on smoke. Eventually the bill comes due—currencies collapse, debts spiral, communities shatter.

What's worth sitting with is Hemingway's last point: these aren't just bad policies that happen to leaders. They're temptations. A politician facing an angry electorate can print money and claim victory before anyone notices the inflation. A struggling government can unite people around an external threat instead of fixing internal problems. It's easier, faster, and the worst consequences land on someone else's watch or on ordinary people who didn't make the choice.

This matters today because we still reach for these same tools. Whether it's through spending we can't afford, scapegoating, or creating enemies to distract from dysfunction—the playbook hasn't changed much. The uncomfortable part is recognizing that these moves work in the short term. That's why they're so dangerous. Temporary fixes feel too good to resist.