Today, Condoleezza Rice appears on the Taking Share podcast to discuss restoring public trust in US universities, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the AI race against China. Hoover’s Center for Revitalizing American Institutions releases a recap of its Reimagining American Institutions webinar series and announces plans for new broadcasts this fall. David R. Henderson evaluates the new industrial policy of the US under Trump, saying it bears resemblance to efforts by communist China. And on the latest episode of Economics, Applied, Steven J. Davis speaks with Brad Wilcox and Ian Rowe about the importance of intact families in raising children who flourish.
Understanding the Impact of Technology on Economics and Governance
On the first episode of the Taking Share: Lessons from Leaders podcast, Hoover Institution Director Condoleezza Rice speaks with host Rob C. Holmes, President and CEO of Texas Capital, about challenges and trust issues in US higher education. Rice speaks about how elite universities have “drifted from our central mission” of conducting basic research and teaching students “how to think” rather than “what to think.” They discuss how generative AI is changing the labor market and also speak about how Russian President Vladimir Putin may view the prospects for peace in Ukraine after his Anchorage summit with President Donald Trump. Rice says there is a possibility that the front lines of Russia’s invasion in Ukraine may freeze where they are today, and durable peace is possible if the US and NATO partners offer a concrete security guarantee to Ukraine. Listen the episode here.
Revitalizing American Institutions
From managing a presidential transition to deconstructing a national election and assessing the reasons behind rural discontent, webinars hosted by Hoover’s Center for Revitalizing American Institutions covered a wide range of topics in the national interest in 2024–25. The nine webinars discussed a range of issues pertinent to America, including higher education, how foreign restrictions can impact US free speech, and why it’s not only healthy but vital to challenge common assumptions in US foreign policy. The webinars enabled viewers to ask questions of speakers, and two episodes were broadcast on C-SPAN.org. Other topics discussed included polling leading up to the November 2024 election and novel ways to interpret the growing urban-rural divide in America. Read more here.
Over on his blog at Reason.org, Senior Fellow Eugene Volokh cites the third and final ruling to block the US government from releasing the 70-or-so pages of grand jury material from Jeffrey Epstein’s criminal case. In blocking the release, Judge Richard Berman said the government did not cite any exceptions to the commonly observed rule of grand jury secrecy in asking for the files to be released. He also pointed to the fact that the government’s own file on Epstein is reportedly 100,000 pages long, and its release would serve as a better demonstration of transparency. “The grand jury testimony is merely a hearsay snippet of Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged conduct,” the judge wrote in his opinion. Read more here.
The Economy
Writing in Defining Ideas, Research Fellow David R. Henderson compares recent moves by the Trump administration to the collectivization failures of Mao Zedong. By negotiating a cut of AMD and Nvidia’s semiconductor sales in China and securing a “golden share” of US Steel in exchange for approving its sale to a Japanese competitor, Henderson argues the Trump White House is now implementing industrial policy, picking winners and losers, just like China. “If history is any guide, he will likely pick lots of losers,” he writes. Henderson also criticizes Apple CEO Tim Cook, who recently brought a golden sculpture worth tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Oval Office in what was widely seen as an attempt to secure favorable terms for future Apple electronics imports into the US, saying “it would have been nice to see Tim Cook have a backbone.” Read more here.
On the latest episode of Economics, Applied, sociologist Brad Wilcox and educational entrepreneur Ian Rowe join Senior Fellow Steven J. Davis to discuss the role of fathers in helping children build happy, prosperous lives. American children from intact families – with both parents present – do much better in school and have fewer disciplinary problems. Among intact families, black and white children have similar academic performance. Unfortunately, black children are much less likely to grow up in intact families. Brad and Ian share several ideas about how to strengthen fatherhood and how to help children from disadvantaged backgrounds choose better life paths. Watch or listen to the episode here.
On the latest episode of Capitalism and Freedom in the Twenty-First Century, host and Hoover Policy Fellow Jon Hartley and Cass Sunstein of Harvard discuss the current state of behavioral economics as of 2025 and ideas presented in his book Nudge (such as government nudge units), administrative law and regulation (cost benefit analysis and regulatory budgets), Constitutional law and separation of powers, political philosophy and liberalism. Sunstein tells Hartley of a recent dinner with a behavioral economist, who joked that global demand for behavioral economics in academics and the corporate sector is so high that people who aren’t well versed in behavioral economics are entering the field and offering research. Watch or listen to the episode here.
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