Today, Dan Wang and Arthur Kroeber explain how the “China model” fuels Beijing’s economic and technological strength; Barry Strauss discusses his new book Jews vs. Rome with Bill Whalen; and a new episode of Free Speech Unmuted unpacks the legal status of “doxing” and how privacy protections can intersect with First Amendment freedoms.
Confronting and Competing with China
In an essay for the September/October issue of Foreign Affairs, Research Fellow Dan Wang and coauthor Arthur Kroeber examine the fundamental drivers of China’s success in infrastructure, energy, and innovation—and how these elements combine to bolster Beijing’s national wealth and power. Despite inefficient government subsidies in key industries and excessive restrictions on the services sector, the authors say, China nevertheless has made significant gains in emerging technologies and commercial markets. Wang and Kroeber argue that the US lacks the “deep infrastructure,” especially manufacturing “process knowledge,” to effectively compete with the People’s Republic in critical industrial fields. As a corrective, the authors propose that US policymakers “start to think in ecosystem terms, as China has,” and prioritize “building a bigger and better electricity system that makes use of nuclear power, natural gas, and renewable energy sources.” The top goal of American policy on China, per the piece, should be to make the US “the best and most vigorous version of itself.” Read more here.
Revitalizing History
Three times in ancient history, the Jewish people revolted against the Roman Empire—the end result being Jewish genocide, enslavement, exile, and religious oppression. For the latest episode of Matters of Policy & Politics, Senior Fellow Barry Strauss, author of the newly released book Jews vs. Rome: Two Centuries of Rebellion Against the World’s Mightiest Empire, joins Distinguished Policy Fellow Bill Whalen to discuss what triggered the various uprisings (taxation, free will) and the lessons they offer for current world politics. Specifically, Whalen queries Strauss on how Israel’s friends and foes view the Jewish state. The discussion also considers how the American and Roman empires/republics are similar yet different and, on a lighter note, why the entertainment world insists upon an ancient Rome full of mild British accents and good dental hygiene. An excerpt from Strauss’s Jews vs. Rome is available to read here at Defining Ideas. Watch or listen here.
Revitalizing American Institutions
In a new episode of Free Speech Unmuted, Senior Fellow Eugene Volokh and Jane Bambauer dive into the debate about “doxing,” or putting someone’s personal info out in public, usually to call them out or put pressure on them. They talk about how the term is defined (or not) in different laws, and how those laws bump up against the First Amendment. They also share real-life examples, from civil rights boycotts to the online outrage over the dentist who shot Cecil the Lion, and look at how exceptions like “true threats” or “incitement” fit in. The big case in this area is the recent Kratovil v. City of New Brunswick, in which New Jersey’s highest court upheld “Daniel’s Law,” which allows judges and police to demand their home addresses not be published online (including by news sites). The hosts break down what that means for privacy and for free speech. Watch or listen here.
US Foreign Policy
In an essay published at his Blade of Perseus site, Senior Fellow Victor Davis Hanson reviews the recent summit between President Trump and Russian autocrat Vladimir Putin in Alaska. “Trump did not get his ceasefire with Putin,” writes Hanson, adding that the president is still pursuing a comprehensive peace deal between Russia and Ukraine, with the assent of European states. Examining the contours of a future deal, Hanson suggests, “Ukraine will not join NATO, but will likely be fully armed by the West.” He adds that no one yet knows what territory each side will end up keeping, or where a “hypothetical DMZ line might eventually be drawn.” But Hanson maintains that the Trump administration policy of direct negotiations with Russia backed by the threat of sanctions and additional arms deliveries to Ukraine is a more effective policy than rhetorical support for Ukraine alone. Read more here.
Answering Challenges to Advanced Economies
In a column for the Centre for Economic Policy Research’s VoxEU, Senior Fellow Eric Hanushek, Hoover Fellow Jacob Light, and coauthors add nuance to the literature on the effects of job losses on future worker earnings, using data from West Germany between 2000 and 2005. “Decades of research have confirmed that job displacement causes significant and persistent earnings losses,” the authors write. The research shared in the column “suggests that these losses are in fact much more heterogeneous than previously documented, and that the large average losses documented in previous work are heavily influenced by a minority of workers who experience catastrophic earnings declines.” Noting that workers’ responses to layoffs vary with “personal circumstance, resilience, and luck,” the authors write that when formulating unemployment policy, “it remains difficult to anticipate who will adjust successfully and who will endure lasting disruption.” Read more here.
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