Today, H.R. McMaster notes the importance of studying US history to sustaining a healthy national pride and productive citizenship; Eric Wakin relates the story of one American’s long odyssey through the Soviet Gulag before his eventual return home; and Joshua Rauh and Benjamin Jaros bring their case against California’s wealth tax ballot measure to the pages of The New York Times.
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USA@250
“As America celebrates the 250th anniversary of our nation’s independence, citizens should advocate for reinvigorating the study of US history because learning about our past is important to securing our future,” Senior Fellow H.R. McMaster writes at his Substack. The former national security advisor says that accurate history is essential for a healthy national pride, which acts as a sort of civic glue for the nation. “Pride in our nation’s history is important because it inspires young Americans to take responsibility for defending freedom and building a better future,” McMaster says. “The study of history,” he continues, “can help students recognize that, like their forebears, they can shape the future.” McMaster concludes that greater appreciation for the sacrifices Americans of the past made for the advancement of freedom “should inspire gratitude and help students understand that freedom is not freedom from obligation.” Read more here.
Liberty Amplified
The story of Victor Herman, an American whose family emigrated to the USSR—out of idealism and what they thought was economic opportunity—is among those told in a new Hoover exhibition, Choosing Freedom. Herman’s life in Soviet Russia was initially one of celebrity—he was a noted athlete and record-setting parachutist. But his insistence on being seen as an American rather than a citizen of the Communist state eventually dragged him into the Gulag, where he endured a decade of torture and deprivation, followed by years of internal exile. The story of how Victor Herman endured under totalitarianism, and how both his desire for freedom and his family’s support finally brought him home to the United States, is among many profiles in the exhibition, writes the director of the Hoover Library & Archives Eric Wakin. Read more here.
Answering Challenges to Advanced Economies
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In an op-ed for The New York Times, Senior Fellow Joshua Rauh and Research Fellow Benjamin Jaros make the case against a proposed wealth tax in California, drawing on their recent research into the fiscal costs of this measure were it to be adopted by Golden State voters in November. “Other countries have made the same mistake Californians are being tempted to commit,” they write. “In 1990, 12 industrialized countries levied a wealth tax,” the scholars note, but by 2025 nine of the 12 countries had repealed them. “These nations discovered that wealth taxes are hard to carry out, cause wealthy people to move and take their money elsewhere and raise far less tax revenue than promised,” say Rauh and Jaros. The op-ed argues that a wealth tax in California would likely carry even worse consequences than in Europe, “because moving out of state is easier than relocating to a new country.” The authors also explore the likely negative consequences for Silicon Valley should the wealth tax become law. Read more here.
In this week’s Grumpy Economist Weekly Rant, Senior Fellow John H. Cochrane examines the case for wealth taxes and the misconception that billionaire wealth can simply be redistributed as consumption. Responding to a recent essay by Thomas Piketty, Joseph Stiglitz, and Emmanuel Saez, Cochrane argues that most billionaire wealth is not sitting idle in cash but rather is invested in businesses, stock, innovation, production, and employment. Cochrane warns that taxing away business wealth would not create more goods and services for the poor. It would draw resources away from investment, capital formation, and the companies that generate future prosperity. The question, he argues, is not how to divide a fixed pool of wealth but how to preserve the incentives and productive capacity that have helped reduce poverty and expand opportunity. Watch or read more here.
The Americas and US Foreign Policy
Join Iván Duque Márquez, former president of Colombia, and Senior Fellow H.R. McMaster as they discuss the implications of Colombia’s June 2026 runoff election, the threats associated with narcotics and transnational crime, and how the United States and Colombia can strengthen security and confidence in democratic institutions. The conversation examines Colombia’s evolving security challenges, including narcotics trafficking, transnational criminal organizations, and the role of the armed forces in restoring security and the rule of law. Duque and McMaster also discuss US-Colombia security cooperation, democratic resilience across the Americas, and political and economic developments in Venezuela and Cuba. They examine the influence of authoritarian powers in the Western Hemisphere and the importance of strengthening democratic institutions and regional partnerships in the face of growing geopolitical competition. Watch or listen here.
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