Matters of Policy & Politics

Matters Of Policy & Politics: Third Time’s More Charming: Macke Raymond on Charter School Progress | Bill Whalen | Hoover Institution

A recent data study on America’s charter schools – the third in an ongoing series – shows students with average learning gains of six days in math and 16 days in reading for the academic years 2015-2019. Macke Raymond, a Hoover Institution Distinguished Research Fellow and founder and director of Stanford University’s Center for Research on Education Outcomes, which authored the study, discusses lessons learned and the status of the three-decade charter school movement, the push for better performing traditional public schools, and a growing national conversation on classroom outcomes.

Matters Of Policy & Politics: Levant Update: Tony Soprano Survives . . . in Syria | Bill Whalen and Joel Rayburn | Hoover Institution

Arguably the world’s most troubled region, the Levant continues to produce geopolitical obstacles and conundrums. Joel Rayburn, a Hoover visiting fellow and former US State Department Deputy Assistant Secretary for Levant Affairs explains how Bashar al-Assad (the Levant’s “Tony Soprano”) survived a civil war and sanctions, the Arab League readmitting Syria, the significance of regional lands conducting their own diplomacy without direct US involvement, the role of a fragile regime in Iran, plus the long shadows of Russia and China.

Matters Of Policy & Politics: Hacks, Attacks, and Pushing Back: Herb Lin on Cybersecurity | Bill Whalen | Hoover Institution

A cyberattack on a European banking institution, the handiwork of a pro-Russian “hacktivist” collective, may be a preview of the next chapter in the war in Ukraine. Herb Lin, the Hoover Institution’s Hank J. Holland Fellow in Cyber Policy and Security, discusses possible motives behind the attack, various nations’ cyber-strategies – China in search of data, North Korea in need of cash – and the push and pull between the US government and the nation’s commercial and tech sectors over taking responsibility for future attacks.

Matters Of Policy & Politics: Cyber-Rattling: Jacquelyn Schneider on (War) Games People Play | Bill Whalen | Hoover Institution

Forty years after the movie WarGames showed the threat of a computer-driven nuclear holocaust, war-gaming has come to prominence as a way to foreshadow – and possibly deter – future conflicts. Jacquelyn Schneider, a Hoover fellow and director of Hoover’s Wargaming and Crisis Simulation Initiative, explains the fine art of quality war-gaming – and how the practice applies to current tensions between the US and China, and perhaps played a role in the current Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Matters Of Policy & Politics: California Update: Indulgent Dodgers, Indebted San Francisco | Bill Whalen, Lee Ohanian, and Jonathan Movroydis | Hoover Institution

San Francisco’s office values plummet as the city/county face a myriad of financial woes including a gaping budget shortfall and a public-transportation system approaching a “fiscal cliff.” Hoover senior fellow Lee Ohanian and distinguished policy fellow Bill Whalen, both contributors to Hoover’s “California on Your Mind” web channel, join Hoover senior writer Jonathan Movroydis to discuss the latest in the Golden State, including what policies San Francisco could implement to rejuvenate its business sector, the Los Angeles Dodgers’ dust-up with a “progressive order of queer and trans nuns,” plus the left’s efforts to force a frail senator Dianne Feinstein into an early retirement.

Matters Of Policy & Politics: Eye on the Prize: John Cochrane on Monetary Policy, the Fed’s Evolution, and Career Achievements | Bill Whalen and John Cochrane | Hoover Institution

What are we to make of the debt-ceiling drama in Washington and why is there a need for the Federal Reserve to engage in greater self-examination? John Cochrane, the Hoover Institution’s Rose Marie and Jack Anderson senior fellow and a recipient of the 2023 Bradley Prize for his contributions to the study of economics, reflects on lessons learned from inflation, institutional drift, and the art of economic storytelling.

Matters Of Policy & Politics: California Update: What’s a Stay-at-Home Governor To Do? | Bill Whalen, Lee Ohanian, and Jonathan Movroydis | Hoover Institution

San Francisco’s fentanyl “crackdown” begins; California’s budget drama heats up inside the State Capitol; and Governor Gavin Newsom’s ongoing obsession with national politics prompts a media backlash back at home. Hoover senior fellow Lee Ohanian and distinguished policy fellow Bill Whalen, both contributors to Hoover’s “California on Your Mind” web channel, join Hoover senior writer Jonathan Movroydis to discuss the latest in the Golden State, including what policy urgencies Newsom faces other than fiscal triage, plus a window into California’s cultural disparity that is the Lakers-Warriors NBA playoff series.

Matters Of Policy & Politics: Africa’s Future: The Great Powers’ “Second Scramble” for Influence and Leverage | Bill Whalen and Thomas Henriksen | Hoover Institution

At the dawn of the 20^th Century, control of the African continent centered around European colonial desires – national pride, natural resources, and manpower. Hoover senior fellow emeritus Thomas Henriksen, author of America’s Wars: Interventions, Regime Change, and Insurgencies After the Cold War, describes what differs in this century other than the former colonies being independent nations—Russian and Chinese influence (think war financing and debt traps), terrorist-related “forever wars,” and a question of direct American involvement (such as special forces operations). Henriksen also offers analysis on last weekend’s evacuation of US embassy staff in Khartoum.

Matters Of Policy & Politics: Did He Act Alone? Kevin Hassett on the Death of Curiosity, and the Birth of Economic Policy | Bill Whalen And Kevin Hassett | Hoover Institution

One economist believes that what is lacking in America today is too little in the way of intellectual curiosity. Kevin Hassett, a Hoover Institution distinguished visiting fellow and past chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisors (and a man very curious about the motives behind JFK’s assassination as well as a recent book about the assassination, The Oswalds: An Untold Account of Marina and Lee by Hoover colleague Paul Gregory), ponders why some topics – climate change and CO2 emissions, social justice, and income inequality – don’t receive the re-examination they should. Finally, Hassett offers a few thoughts on how to talk about economic policy in the current political landscape.

2024’s Elephant Parade: Who Plays the Trump Card? | Bill Whalen and Ben Ginsberg | Hoover Institution

Should he formalize his candidacy, South Carolina Senator Tim Scott would be the fifth Republican looking to unseat President Biden in 2024. How many other Republicans will join the field – and what are their odds of denying Donald Trump the GOP nomination? Ben Ginsberg, the Hoover Institution’s Volker Family Visiting Fellow and a nationally recognized political law advocate and veteran of past Republican presidential efforts, discusses the current state of the GOP “establishment,” Trump’s loyal base and influence over the primary electorate, plus his current Hoover projects devoted to election integrity and re-instilling voter confidence.