Today, Hoover welcomes Nand Mulchandani, former inaugural chief technology officer of the Central Intelligence Agency, as a visiting fellow; Larry Diamond analyzes the state of democracy around the world and how modern communications technologies are impacting attention spans as well as electorates; and Steven J. Davis speaks with Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President Tom Barkin about the drivers of economic growth in small towns.
Hoover Institution News
The Hoover Institution welcomes Nand Mulchandani, former chief technology officer (CTO) of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and one of the nation’s foremost authorities on artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and emerging technologies, as a visiting fellow for 2025–26. From 2022 to 2025, Mulchandani served as the CIA’s first CTO, where he shaped the agency’s technology strategy and drove efforts to integrate artificial intelligence, advanced computing, and other emerging technologies into intelligence operations. He was charged with modernizing the organization’s technological foundations, strengthening its mission effectiveness, and positioning the agency at the forefront of innovation. He continues to serve as an advisor to the CIA after stepping down in June 2025. Prior to government service, Mulchandani spent more than two decades in Silicon Valley as an entrepreneur, innovator, and senior executive. At Hoover, Mulchandani will work closely with the institution’s Technology Policy Accelerator, where he will be a core contributor to the program’s activities in areas such as accelerating defense tech innovation and preventing strategic technical surprise. Read more here.
Revitalizing American Institutions
In a new interview published at Defining Ideas, Senior Fellow Larry Diamond offers his perspective on the state of democracy around the globe, how smartphones and social media polarize people, and threats to democracy, civil rights, and the rule of law. Diamond finds that in the wake of a “year of elections” in 2024, the state of democracy globally is “a very mixed and contested picture.” He sees lingering illiberal influences in the politics of Poland and the Czech Republic and even greater threats to democratic governance in Georgia. Turning to the influence of social media on democracies, Diamond says, “We’re in an existential battle to raise a generation of young people who are less lonely, depressed, alienated, cynical, and obsessed with how they’re viewed by their peers.” Toward the end of the interview, Diamond explains why he is “adamantly and passionately in favor of eliminating partisan primaries.” Read more here.
Answering Challenges to Advanced Economies
Where is small-town growth happening, and where is it not happening? To explore what answers economic research can provide to these questions, in a new episode of Economics, Applied, Senior Fellow and Director of Research Steven J. Davis speaks with Tom Barkin, president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond and a member of the Federal Open Market Committee, the Fed’s chief monetary policy body. Davis and Barkin discuss what it takes for small towns to prosper and why it matters for families and communities. They also discuss how policymakers and civic leaders can address concerns about the downsides of economic development. The conversation amplifies insights from a speech Barkin gave on the topic of small-town growth in May 2025 at the Investing in Rural America Conference. Watch or listen here.
In an opinion column at The Wall Street Journal, Research Fellow David R. Henderson explains the significance of this year’s Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences being awarded to Joel Mokyr, Philippe Aghion, and Peter Howitt. “The most important issue in economics is growth,” Henderson begins. He thus finds it “heartening” that the committee chose to recognize these scholars “for having explained innovation-driven economic growth.” As Henderson explains, “Economic growth is the reason extreme poverty has become much rarer around the world, life expectancy has increased dramatically, and most Americans now own many things that were unobtainable luxuries decades ago. All three winners recognized that because economic growth is crucial, we need to understand how we got it and how we can keep it.” In the column, Henderson reviews the contributions each scholar made to the economic understanding of economic growth. Read more here. [Subscription required]
State and Local Governance
Writing at California on Your Mind, Distinguished Policy Fellow Bill Whalen reviews a number of recent legislative and gubernatorial developments in Sacramento. “The more things change,” Whalen writes, “the more they stay the same—or so it seems regarding two long-running California policy woes: homelessness and gasoline prices.” For the former, “at issue was AB 255 and the question of whether to free up more state money for so-called ‘sober’ homeless housing. Long story short: the measure tweaked Newsom’s ‘housing first’ strategy; a move that apparently offended the governor, as he decided to veto the bill approved by 118 of 120 voting legislators.” As for gasoline policy, “Newsom signed AB 30, which temporarily allows the sale of an additional blend of gasoline (it’s called E15) while the California Air Resources Board determines its eco-viability.” In the piece, Whalen also discusses several other recently signed California laws. Read more here.
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