The lying part is secondary—no maliciousness is the important part. Maybe what you really want is a “Good” ruler; philosophy and ethics have been wrestling with

The lying part is secondary—no maliciousness is the important part. Maybe what you really want is a “Good” ruler; philosophy and ethics have been wrestling with how to define that for thousands of years. I’d be shocked if such a ruler would have no need to lie, unless they have no internal or external threats (so an all-encompassing autocracy, perhaps like the God Emperor of Dune). Speaking of sci-fi, the Culture novels’ hyper-intelligent AI “Minds” are, AFAIK, “good” rulers with external threats, though I don’t recall the Minds being limited by honesty. Were you recalling the Fair Witnesses from Heinlein’s Stranger in a Strange Land? (Overly Sarcastic synopsis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jAkplrZci0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jAkplrZci0) Those industries aren’t even top 10: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/10-biggest-industries-world-2021-150703784.html https://finance.yahoo.com/news/10-biggest-industries-world-2...