Hoover Digest
Friday, April 6, 2012

2012 No. 2

Europe's Only Choice

by Michael J. Boskinvia Hoover Digest
Friday, April 6, 2012

No longer able to devalue its way to competitiveness, Europe can save itself in just one way: reforming its welfare states. By Michael J. Boskin.

Let the Market Work

by Kevin M. Warshvia Hoover Digest
Friday, April 6, 2012

When a government enacts stimulus programs and manipulates asset prices, it can only buy time. By Kevin M. Warsh.

Man with goats

Tragedy of the Commons, in Two Acts

by Gary D. Libecapvia Hoover Digest
Friday, April 6, 2012

A classic parable of shared resources explains the woes besetting both the euro and U.S. debt. By Gary D. Libecap.

Euro flag

Scrap the Euro Now

by Robert J. Barrovia Hoover Digest
Friday, April 6, 2012

The common currency was doomed from the start. By Robert J. Barro.

Dead Hand of the Living Wage

by Richard A. Epsteinvia Hoover Digest
Friday, April 6, 2012

Mandating a minimum income would only distort costs and gum up the labor market. By Richard A. Epstein.

Getting Back on Track

by John B. Taylorvia Hoover Digest
Friday, April 6, 2012

A return to first principles: economic freedom leads to economic success. By John B. Taylor.

Wishful Thinking Isn't Economic Analysis

by Mark Harrisonvia Hoover Digest
Friday, April 6, 2012

Sunny, simplistic views of taxes, imports, and wages—welcome to “do it yourself” economics. By Mark Harrison.

Reform pie

The Third-Party Temptation

by Paul E. Petersonvia Hoover Digest
Friday, April 6, 2012

Factions and futility. That’s what third parties produce. By Paul E. Peterson.

New Hampshire voter John Hogan

Independents' Day

by David Brady, Douglas Riversvia Hoover Digest
Friday, April 6, 2012

Win over those “none of the above” voters, and you win the White House. By David W. Brady and Douglas Rivers.

Obama on podium

The Arab Spring: What We Know Now

by Fouad Ajamivia Hoover Digest
Friday, April 6, 2012

One year later, much of the conventional wisdom about the uprisings has been proven wrong. By Fouad Ajami.

Army Sergeant 1st Class Dominic MacDonald

The Next Ten Years

by Benjamin Wittesvia Hoover Digest
Friday, April 6, 2012

Regardless of its standing in earlier years, Guantánamo now represents a model of due process in the war on terror. By Benjamin Wittes.

Guantánamo Bay Naval Station

Secure Solution

by Edwin Meese IIIvia Hoover Digest
Friday, April 6, 2012

The offshore detention facility is safe, humane—and indispensable. By Edwin Meese III.

masked guerrilla theater group

The Next Russian Revolution?

by Robert Servicevia Hoover Digest
Friday, April 6, 2012

The Soviet Union has been gone for twenty years, but the people of Russia are only just awakening. By Robert Service.

Moscow police officer detains a demonstrator

Taking on the Apparatchiks

by Robert Conquestvia Hoover Digest
Friday, April 6, 2012

Russians challenge the “deeply cynical caste” that has long ruled them. By Robert Conquest.

Khalid Sheik Muhammad cartoon

Ending the Double Game

by Stephen D. Krasnervia Hoover Digest
Friday, April 6, 2012

Despite lavish aid and special treatment, Islamabad is an ally in name only. Washington needs to stop playing along. By Stephen D. Krasner.

Hello Kitty cartoon

On the Cesium Road

by Toshio Nishivia Hoover Digest
Friday, April 6, 2012

Japanese feel angry and ignored, prisoners of both radiation and bureaucracy. By Toshio Nishi.

Korean man with bombs

Threat for Threat

by Dimitri Landavia Hoover Digest
Friday, April 6, 2012

How South Korea might deter its nuclear neighbor without going nuclear itself. By Dimitri Landa.

United Nations

Living with the U.N.

by Kenneth Andersonvia Hoover Digest
Friday, April 6, 2012

The world body cannot escape from its own persistent and severe limitations, but perhaps the United States can. By Kenneth Anderson.

Are Too Many People in Prison?

by Gary S. Beckervia Hoover Digest
Friday, April 6, 2012

Putting lawbreakers behind bars is one way to cut crime, but it’s hardly the only way. Why we need to consider a different approach. By Gary S. Becker.

How Green Is My Folly

by James Huffmanvia Hoover Digest
Friday, April 6, 2012

European lawmakers want to protect their favorite regulations—effective or not, now and forever. By James Huffman.

The Picture of Health

by Scott W. Atlasvia Hoover Digest
Friday, April 6, 2012

Patients are not the same around the world, and neither are health outcomes. Let’s put U.S. health care into its proper, and superlative, light. By Scott W. Atlas.

General Ray Odierno and Army officer Joseph McGee

Restraint is Powerful

by Colonel Joseph (JP) McGeevia Hoover Digest
Friday, April 6, 2012

Do our strict codes of conduct unduly burden our soldiers in the field? Not according to this officer. A first-person account of events in Iraq. By Joseph McGee.

Robert Gates cartoon

Back to the (Uncertain) Future

by Kori Schakevia Hoover Digest
Friday, April 6, 2012

Proposals to cut deeply into the Pentagon budget carry risks that the administration has yet to confront. By Kori N. Schake.

Teacher shouting and kids doing pushups cartoon

A Boot Camp for Citizenship

by Peter Berkowitzvia Hoover Digest
Friday, April 6, 2012

Civics education must not be indoctrination, but it also must not be overlooked. By Peter Berkowitz.

Dependent No More

by Victor Davis Hansonvia Hoover Digest
Friday, April 6, 2012

New technologies have produced a boom in oil and natural gas right here in the United States—and given us a chance to liberate our foreign policy. By Victor Davis Hanson.

Obama sitting at energy subsidies jackpot

When Subsidies Fizzle

by Jeremy Carlvia Hoover Digest
Friday, April 6, 2012

In the development of renewable energy, the market has to take the lead. By Jeremy Carl.

George H. Nash cartoon

Herbert Hoover's Road Not Taken

by George H. Nash, Charity Nebbevia Hoover Digest
Friday, April 6, 2012

Completed forty-eight years ago, his magnum opus appears at last. George H. Nash discusses its insights into our thirty-first president. By Charity Nebbe.

Man sitting on the dock

Eric Hoffer, Genius—And Enigma

by Tom Bethellvia Hoover Digest
Friday, April 6, 2012

His early years remain obscure, but the postwar writings and influence of the Longshoreman Philosopher proved incandescent. By Tom Bethell.

A Lesson for Europe

by Thomas J. Sargentvia Hoover Digest
Friday, April 6, 2012

America’s founders paid off the states’ debts once—but only once. That wise example could benefit Europe today. By Thomas J. Sargent.

On the Cover

via Hoover Digest
Friday, April 6, 2012

The nineteenth-century novelist Stendhal praised Pont-en-Royans, a pretty cliffside town along the Bourne in southeast France.

Three barefoot men face

Shooting the Bolsheviks

by Bertrand M. Patenaudevia Hoover Digest
Friday, April 6, 2012

Amid the ruins of the Great War, an American camera crew filmed a shocking sight. That roll of celluloid has taken a strange trip through history. By Bertrand M. Patenaude.

Retired admiral Charles M. Cooke

Taiwan's Secret Ally

by Hsiao-ting Linvia Hoover Digest
Friday, April 6, 2012

In Chiang Kai-shek’s darkest hour, he turned to a retired U.S. admiral. By Hsiao-ting Lin.