Today, Senior Fellow Valerie Ramey reflects on her time working as research assistant to new Nobel laureate and Senior Fellow Emeritus Robert E. Hall. Dinsha Mistree lauds the courage and gumption of Green Mountain Boy Ethan Allen. And Anne Neuberger unveils a new program to harden the cyber defenses of America’s most vulnerable pieces of infrastructure.
Economics
Robert E. Hall, the Hoover Institution’s Robert and Carole McNeil Senior Fellow, Emeritus, and a Stanford professor of economics, was named a corecipient of the 2026 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for his contributions to understanding macroeconomic stabilization. He becomes the sixth Hoover economist in the past half-century to receive the honor, continuing a tradition that began with Milton Friedman. In a new episode of Matters of Policy & Politics, Hoover Senior Fellow Valerie Ramey, who once served as Hall’s graduate research assistant, discusses how his pioneering work in New Keynesian economics has shaped modern economic research and influenced monetary and fiscal policy. Ramey also explores Hall’s contributions to understanding economic shocks, his distinctive approach to explaining complex economic ideas, and his lasting influence on generations of economists. Listen here.
Revitalizing History
America’s military victory during the Revolutionary War owes a debt to figures like Ethan Allen, the headstrong Vermonter whose capture (entirely unauthorized) of Fort Ticonderoga was not only the first US offensive action in history but a key ingredient in a later victory by Gen. George Washington. As Hoover research fellow Dinsha Mistree tells the story, Allen and his Green Mountain Boys came out of Vermont by stealth and seized the crucial fortress from the British. The fort’s heavy artillery was eventually positioned on the heights above Boston, forcing the king’s soldiers to evacuate the city. Allen’s next act, volunteering to help invade Canada, put him in irons in an English prison, but he was treated as a hero after he was freed and returned to Vermont. Ethan Allen’s example points to the need for action—not just rhetoric—in the cause of freedom, Mistree concludes. Read more here.
Determining America’s Role in the World
Four years after Western governments imposed sanctions on Russian oil in response to the invasion of Ukraine, Moscow continues to earn more than $200 billion annually from oil and gas exports. The European Union’s embargo forced Russia to shift its exports toward China, India, and Turkey, increasing costs and reducing revenues. A price cap imposed by the G7 on Russian oil proved ineffective because of poor enforcement and, over time, Russia’s ability to assemble a shadow fleet to circumvent restrictions and thus maintain its prewar export volumes. Sanctions have also increased Moscow’s dependence on Beijing. Meanwhile, the Iran war has delivered an unexpected revenue windfall for Russia. Economists Oleg Itskhoki and Elina Ribakova examine what worked, what failed, and why future sanctions require stronger enforcement, clearer objectives, and measures targeting Russia’s long-term production capacity. Read more here.
Bolstering America’s Cyber Defense
Distinguished Visiting Fellow Anne Neuberger announces a new initiative aimed at bolstering the cyber defenses and resilience of American infrastructure, with a focus on rural America. The Securing America’s Infrastructure Foundation, to be led by Neuberger, will raise funds to build tools and train public institutions to better defend against cyber intrusions. “The pattern is consistent: The same institutions expected to protect the most sensitive data and systems in our communities—student records, patient files, water systems, emergency services—are the least resourced to do it,” Neuberger said in a release announcing the nonprofit’s formation. Read more here.
Healthcare
At his Substack, Policy Fellow Tom Church explains how a “Medicare for All” proposal would cover the last remaining few Americans without stable health insurance at the expense of virtually everyone else. It would likely make private health insurance illegal or unfeasible. Instead, Church points out the number of uninsured in America by 2036 will be less than nine million people. Extending individual market or Medicaid subsidies to them would cost $113 billion, far less than any Medicare for All proposal would cost. “Medicare for All makes the whole system operate based on an exception, instead of allowing the system to function for most people and then making exceptions to help the rest,” Church writes. Read more here.
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