Today, David Kennedy and Niall Ferguson consider the modern presidency through the lens of earlier American political history; Victor Davis Hanson discusses President Trump’s second-term priorities and how his conduct in office may shape his legacy; and scholars and congressional staff convened by Hoover propose seven ways to make Medicare more cost-effective and efficient.
US History
At an October 20 event held at the Hoover Institution, Senior Fellow Niall Ferguson and Distinguished Visiting Fellow David M. Kennedy discussed the contemporary presidency in the light of US history, to ask whether current fears about the deterioration of this institution reflect genuinely new developments or a lack of familiarity with American historical parallels. This event was the latest in the Ideas That Made US: Dialogues on Freedom speaker series, commemorating 250 years of American independence. “Trump is a quintessentially American figure,” Ferguson argued. “It’s just that he alludes to an earlier period of American history than most of us are really familiar with.” Kennedy made the case that “we’re in a moment of more serious crisis than usual,” given low trust in institutions and the polarization of well-sorted political parties. Both Kennedy and Ferguson agreed that the Founders’ vision of a constrained presidency, balanced by checks from the other branches, has always been challenged in implementation as presidents have attempted to use their powers to address new issues. “[The Founders’] fear of concentrated power made our federalized checks-and-balances system of government a very difficult instrument to use nimbly and quickly,” said Kennedy. Read more here.
In part 2 of this Uncommon Knowledge conversation, Distinguished Policy Fellow Peter M. Robinson speaks with Senior Fellow Victor Davis Hanson about Donald Trump’s second term and Hanson’s new book The Counterrevolution: The Fall and Rise of Donald Trump and the MAGA Movement. Their discussion covers the economy, Iran, China and Taiwan, Russia and Ukraine, and Latin America. Hanson argues that Trump’s confrontational style can produce significant results, but also acknowledges that it can alienate allies and voters. Robinson presses him on Trump’s communication failures, divisive conduct, and personal and family business dealings, which Hanson concedes could undermine the legacy of Trump’s presidency. The conversation also touches on the longer-term implications of the Republican Party’s shift toward populist nationalism, and Hanson’s recovery from cancer surgery. Watch or listen here.
Healthcare Policy
Scholars and experts challenged by Hoover to come up with ways to streamline Medicare during a two-day conference in August 2026 have now presented new policy proposals that could cut costs by tens or even hundreds of billions of dollars. The August 17 and 18 conference, cohosted by the Hoover Institution’s Healthcare Policy Working Group and its Fiscal Policy Initiative, brought together budget analysts, health economists, practicing physicians, and congressional staff to examine options for reducing Medicare’s growing impact on the federal budget. The discussion focused on targeted Medicare budget options that would reduce federal deficits while maintaining quality of care and coverage for seniors. Medicare’s draw on general revenue—meaning its funding that does not come from payroll taxes, premiums, or beneficiary cost sharing—now costs taxpayers roughly $600 billion a year, and is projected by the Congressional Budget Office to approach $1 trillion within the next decade. Read more here.
Freedom Frequency
In an essay for the Liberty Amplified channel at Freedom Frequency, human rights activists Jorge Jraissati and Lyudmyla Kozlovska propose ways to combat transnational crime and the enabling regimes that abuse the world financial system. These bad actors include authoritarian regimes that harass and persecute political opponents beyond their borders, as well as cybercriminals who exploit weaknesses within the very laws meant to halt money laundering and terrorist financing. Jraissati and Kozlovska describe steps taken in Europe to patrol the financial system; make it easier for victims to get compensation and for wrongly accused figures to clear their names; and set up protocols that guard the security of the system without inhibiting it. But to make the new safeguards a reality, they write, the United States must provide leadership by updating its domestic regulatory requirements, which tend to set global standards. Read more here.
Financial Regulation
“As we enter into an era where banks and other institutions are all using AI to figure out how they might game regulation, it is time for supervisory organizations to embrace AI too,” Senior Fellow Amit Seru argues in an op-ed for the Financial Times. Seru reflects on AI’s potential to boost regulatory efficacy as the Federal Reserve plans a major revision of US financial system supervision, prompted in part by the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank in 2023. Seru says this latest round of regulatory reforms will aim to clarify the responsibilities of the Fed versus other regulatory bodies, like the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. In his view, AI assistance cannot replace regulators’ judgments but does have the potential to review information and flag deteriorations in risk measurements. Read more here. [Subscription required.]
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