This Friday, the Hoover Institution congratulates Kevin Warsh on his nomination to serve as the next chair of the Federal Reserve; Tyler Cowen joins the GoodFellows to discuss current events; and Joseph Ledford and Eyck Freymann speak with Bill Whalen about US foreign policy in the Indo-Pacific and the Western Hemisphere—and how American policymakers should understand Beijing’s ambitions and capabilities in both regions.
Hoover Institution News
The Hoover Institution congratulates Kevin Warsh, Shepard Family Distinguished Visiting Fellow in Economics at Hoover, for his nomination to serve as the next chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. “Congratulations to my close friend and trusted colleague of many years at Hoover on being nominated as the next Fed chair,” said Director Condoleezza Rice. “Kevin is a dedicated public servant with the intellect, experience, and judgment to lead the Federal Reserve. He understands the central bank’s key role for the United States and our allies around the world. We will benefit from his steady, principled leadership.” Warsh served as a member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors from 2006 to 2011. During that period, he took part in key decisions during the financial crisis and the early recovery. A student of the late Milton Friedman while completing his undergraduate degree at Stanford, Warsh has addressed in his work over the years the importance of credible monetary policy, clear rules, honest communication with the public, and institutional accountability. Read more here.
US Politics and International Affairs
Donald Trump’s drop-in at the World Economic Forum and the ensuing kerfuffle between the American president and the attending globalist elites raises the question: Who is winning on the world stage, Trump or his foes—or do they have more in common than is commonly recognized? Tyler Cowen, an economist, blogger, and Free Press columnist, joins GoodFellows regulars Niall Ferguson, John Cochrane, and H.R. McMaster to discuss Trump’s third presidential visit to Davos, Switzerland, plus the rise of “democratic socialism” and “affordability politics” embodied in the ethos of New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani. After that: the three fellows discuss lessons from Minneapolis in the aftermath of two protestors shot to death by federal immigration agents; the odds of American military strikes against Iran; the significance of China’s latest military purge; and whether the show’s resident historians are comfortable with the (over)use of the phrase “the right side of history.” Watch or listen here.
Revitalizing History
On the latest episode of Matters of Policy & Politics, Hoover Fellows and historians Joseph Ledford and Eyck Freymann discuss their respective fields of expertise—the Western Hemisphere for Ledford and China and Taiwan for Freymann—and how those two theaters are intertwined. Host Bill Whalen asks Ledford and Freymann a series of questions critical for US foreign policy: Could a crisis in the Indo-Pacific prompt China to create mischief in the Americas? How should America read Beijing’s ambitions? Is Xi Jinping too risk averse to invade Taiwan? And what are Donald Trump’s designs on his “backyard”? The panelists consider whether Venezuela is the beginning or the end of the US engaging in the affairs of its regional neighbors. This forward-looking, research-driven conversation illustrates Hoover’s commitment to promoting the study and understanding of regions critically important to advancing US interests in the 21st century. Watch or listen here.
Freedom Frequency
Even as China pressures historians to forget the past and speak only the words approved by the communist state, those who stood up for democracy can still be heard. At Freedom Frequency, Hoover fellow Rowena He tells the story of one such voice, that of Lin Zhao, a onetime student journalist whose call for reforms in Mao’s China led to her imprisonment and execution during the Cultural Revolution. A collection of Zhao’s prison writings is held in the Hoover Institution’s archives, where they convey the hopes and determination of a woman who spoke up for the rights and freedoms promised by China’s revolutionaries. Today, Hong Kong activists who once held annual vigils for the victims of the Tiananmen massacre are on trial for “subversion of state power”—a reminder that Beijing is still committing “historicide,” says He, a scholar of the Tiananmen movement who was banned from China. But the voices of the powerless, such as Lin Zhao, endure. Read more here.
Politics, Institutions, and Public Opinion
Political change in Texas is a question that fascinates the rest of the country, but it’s tempting to indulge in easy answers, says Visiting Fellow Daron Shaw in a new published Q&A at Defining Ideas. Not only is the Latino electorate complicated, Shaw argues, but the political affiliation of migrants to the Lone Star State is clouded by where they came from, what they’re looking for, and whether so-called independents are truly independent. For instance, a migrant to Texas is usually someone who already has a strong interest in politics, Shaw points out. Texas is also where Shaw has explored how public officials respond to challenges from the news media and the public—and he explains why those officials sometimes won’t even give a “no comment.” Read more here.
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