Today, Michael McConnell calls on Congress to preserve the Federal Reserve’s central banking independence by spinning off its regulatory functions; Eric Hanushek analyzes 21st-century declines in American educational achievement, as well as their immense future costs if not corrected; and in a new short video, Scott Atlas explains why the United States would be wise to steer clear of a government-run healthcare system.
Revitalizing American Institutions
In an opinion column for The Washington Post, Senior Fellow Michael McConnell argues that the current legal battle over President Trump’s firing of one member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors points to a larger issue: “whether the president may fire any and all Fed board members at will.” Drawing on arguments dating back to the late 18th-century fight over the First Bank of the United States, McConnell shows the practical political and economic problems that are likely to ensue if the federal executive branch maintains direct control over the money supply. To save the Fed’s independence in its central banking role, McConnell argues, “Congress must quickly pass legislation bifurcating the Fed’s functions, assigning central bank operations . . . to officers insulated from political control, and assigning the regulatory functions to a new entity governed in the same way as other regulatory agencies.” Read more here. [Subscription required.]
Reforming K–12 Education
In a new Hoover Institution Press essay, Senior Fellow Eric Hanushek analyzes the state of student achievement in recent decades. The COVID-19 pandemic undeniably disrupted student learning, he argues, but a serious decline in educational outcomes began well before its onset and has persisted after the end of its related school closures. Hanushek shows that student achievement has been falling since 2013, and the performance gap between high-achieving and low-achieving students has grown substantially, with 2024 showing the largest variance in National Assessment of Educational Progress scores in testing history. Hanushek’s essay stresses the need for “fundamental institutional change” and makes the case for moving away from incremental tweaks toward an outcome-based system that ties rewards to demonstrated effectiveness, rather than treating all schools and educators alike. At stake, according to Hanushek, are “enormous” economic costs that will accrue over affected students’ lifetimes if student achievement does not return to 2013 levels. Read more here.
Tennenbaum Program for Fact-Based Policy
A new short video from Hoover’s Tennenbaum Program for Fact-Based Policy draws on the scholarship of Senior Fellow Scott W. Atlas to discuss the facts of government-run, or single-payer, healthcare systems. Atlas argues that single-payer healthcare may sound appealing, but global experience in the UK, Canada, and other nations shows it limits access, reduces quality, and leaves patients with fewer choices—raising costs instead of lowering them. The video highlights the importance of consumer choice in enabling optimal healthcare decisions and emphasizes that reduced competition in healthcare delivery and insurance markets—owing in part to changes from the Affordable Care Act—have resulted in higher costs and greater harms for patients. Watch the short video to see why government-run healthcare for all would not deliver on its alluring promises. Watch here.
Revitalizing History
For the past dozen years, Hoover’s online publication Strategika has assembled academics of varied thought to study contemporary conflicts and national security challenges through re-examination of past struggles. On the occasion of its 100th issue, Senior Fellow Victor Davis Hanson, the historian tasked with bringing the publication to life, speaks with Distinguished Policy Fellow Bill Whalen about Hoover’s growing commitment to the study of history—evidenced by the institution’s expanding complement of distinguished historians—and how a Strategika-like approach helps illuminate complicated conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza. Whalen also asks Hanson about how his passion for military history relates to his ancestors’ involvement in the two world wars, his thoughts on how best to introduce young learners to classical opuses, and the problem of university history departments’ discouraging intellectual diversity. Read more here.
Determining America’s Role in the World
Writing at The Caravan, Senior Fellow Russell A. Berman argues that in foreign policy, “the Trump strategy is characterized regionally by a focus on Saudi Arabia and the Gulf and therefore with less attention to Europe, and conceptually by the emphasis on interests rather than values.” Berman’s essay focuses on the role of Saudi Arabia in particular as a keystone of Trump administration foreign policy across his first and second terms. Berman notes that real material interests, like “the energy market, investment in the US, attracting the Kingdom into the Abraham Accords, and ultimately competing against China” are important drivers of the US-Saudi bilateral relationship. But, according to Berman, the Saudi kingdom’s rise in US foreign policy prominence also “indicates a relative decline in the importance of the traditional relations with Europe.” Looking ahead, Berman suggests that managing the “fundamental competition for hegemony” in the region between Saudi Arabia and NATO ally Turkey will prove challenging for Washington policymakers. Read more here.
Related Commentary