Wednesday, April 1, 2026

Today, Glenn Loury writes about what leaders in the civil rights movement can teach us about activism that still respects societal norms. John Cochrane argues that the US response to a new spike in oil prices should in no way resemble the response to the 1970s oil shock. And Natalie Millar’s work on effective state job training programs earns her an Early Career Research Award from the Upjohn Institute.

Freedom Frequency

Respectability Politics and the Moral Ecology of Freedom

Standing at the center of the “social commons,” writes Distinguished Visiting Fellow Glenn C. Loury, are people who respect a society’s norms and thus uphold not only their own ethical standing but also that of their people. Unfortunately, a false idea has taken root that respectability means subservience, Loury writes. Instead, defending the values of a democratic society is in part a form of practical wisdom, he writes, citing leaders in the civil rights movement whose dignity won them allies and turned away the powers of segregation. But in an even deeper sense, minority populations that develop self-command earn a stronger role in American democracy—and for Black Americans in particular, the cultivation of such virtues is “part of the ongoing work of freedom itself.” Read more here.

The Economy

The Iran War Doesn’t Have to Be a Rerun of “That ’70s Show”

In The Wall Street Journal, Senior Fellow John H. Cochrane urges US policymakers not to repeat the mistakes of the 1970s oil shocks. We’re a net energy exporter today, so we can probably refrain from implementing price controls, lowering freeway speed limits to 55 miles per hour, and telling Americans to just don a cardigan indoors during winter. He says the US needs to let markets function and get out of the way if we want to limit the impact of inflation. “Higher gasoline prices need not mean inflation,” Cochrane writes. “But governments will produce inflation if they hand out money so people can pay higher prices. Price controls mean gas lines, which increase economic damage.” Read more here. [Subscription required.]

Revitalizing History

US Court Ruling Keeps Mao Documents Out of China

The Wall Street Journal’s James T. Areddy picks up on Hoover and Stanford’s victory in court on Tuesday preserving Hoover’s custody of the Li Rui diaries. An Oakland, California, district judge ruled that an earlier decree by a court in Beijing ordering the material to be returned to China could not be enforced. “We’ve never had anything like [these diaries] before. They are priceless for people who want to study the People’s Republic of China,” former Hoover fellow Joseph Torigian told Areddy. Torigian used the materials to produce his recent book The Party’s Interests Come First: The Life of Xi Zhongxun, Father of Xi Jinping. Read more here. [Subscription required.]

Empowering State and Local Governance

Hoover Institution Scholar Natalie Millar Honored by Upjohn Institute for Job-Training Research

A Hoover research fellow whose latest work explores how to improve job-training programs has won a worldwide award recognizing early-career scholars who generate impactful labor and employment research. Styslinger Family Fellow Natalie Millar won an Early Career Research Award from the W. E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research on March 30. “It is an honor to be recognized for my research on customized job training. This award is especially meaningful to me because it comes from an institution with a long history of work that has shaped how economists think about business incentives and workforce development,” Millar said. Read more here.