Konyok,
Yes, “whack-job” was quite an ill-chosen word on my part. “Mob-boss” is more like it, b/c that captures your point that he is rational. I do wonder why dictators don’t focus more on structural issues–there is a good book by a Canadian academic called “The Political Economy of Dictatorship” that treats this issue at length, but I’m sorry I can’t (remember it well enough to) distill it into a sentence or two. Still, your point is very well-taken.