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Hoover Daily Report | July 13, 2026 · Hoover Daily Report

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  Welcome to the Hoover Daily Report. "Ideas Advancing
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  Freedom." It's Monday, July 13th, twenty twenty six.
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  Today, the GoodFellows ask if President Trump is in a slump, and what he can do
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  to turn things around. Ross Levine writes about Adam Smith’s suggestion that may
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  have been able to prevent the Revolutionary War, and Ronnen Harary,
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  co-founder of Spin Master, speaks to Russ Roberts about the unique and enduring
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  impact of designing original toys and selling them around the globe.
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  Trump Slump, Capitalism vs. Communism, and An Old Man Yells at Claude.
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  After a productive first one hundred days after returning to office, President
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  Trump has since hit a rough patch: stubborn inflation (despite an otherwise
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  powerhouse economy), an unpopular war with Iran, and setbacks at the Supreme
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  Court, plus growing dissent among congressional Republicans as his party
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  faces the distinct possibility of losing one or both chambers of Congress in
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  November. Has the ever-impulsive, risk-taking Trump lost his political
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  Midas touch, or is he simply yet another president befuddled by a second-term jinx
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  (not to mention a disgruntled electorate)? If Trump is sorely in need
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  of a “win,” will it come on the domestic front or abroad (spoiler alert: look to
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  Cuba)? After that, the fellows discuss whether it was fair play for the American
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  president to intervene in World Cup officiating and for the International
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  Olympic Committee to allow Russian athletes to compete for Mother Russia in
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  the 2028 Games and whether the war in Ukraine is anywhere close to a tipping
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  point.
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  Taxation With Representation.
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  Hoover Senior Fellow Ross Levine, returning in the voice of Adam Smith,
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  explains Smith’s response to the American rallying cry of “no taxation without
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  representation.” Smith gave Parliament a way to respond that would have not only
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  respected the colonists’ demand for equality, he writes, but also opened the
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  way to greater prosperity for everyone in the British Empire. Parliament, however,
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  refused—out of pride and shortsightedness, Levine writes. And
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  thus, the American colonists settled the issue for themselves. The warnings for
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  the twenty-first century are these, Levine writes: Citizens burdened with tax
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  burdens must share in the benefits as well, and empires can throw away an
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  irreplaceable treasure if they fail to guard against hubris or the corrupting
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  power of special interests.
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  From Sawdust to Paw Patrol: The Spin Master Story.
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  A nylon stocking filled with sawdust that grows grass for hair launched one of the
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  most successful toy companies in the world. Ronnen Harary, cofounder of Spin
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  Master and co-creator of Paw Patrol, talks about his book, No Experience
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  Necessary, with EconTalk's Russ Roberts. Harary traces his journey from selling
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  grass-growing novelty heads at twenty-three, through Devil Sticks and
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  Air Hogs, to building Bakugan and Paw Patrol into global franchises touching
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  the lives of millions of children. Along the way, he reflects on the artistry of
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  commercial creation and what it means to build something that outlives its
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  founders. The conversation closes on the eternal magic of toys and our childhoods.
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  New California Minimum Wage Law Will Increase Wildfire Risk.
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  On his Substack, Visiting Fellow Matthew Kahn writes of a bizarre, unfolding
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  situation in California that he argues will increase the risk of wildfire unless
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  it is reversed. Because of a minimum wage exception that expired this month, goat
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  herders (but not sheep herders) in California now qualify for what is
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  effectively round-the-clock pay, including overtime, that amounts to
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  $20,000 per month. Kahn writes that without a change, herders will be forced
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  to employ forms of remote control of their herds, including GPS-linked
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  collars, electric fences, and other tools. And larger firms in the space will
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  be more able to adjust than smaller ones.
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  Explore Library & Archives Collections.
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  Arthur N. Young Papers.
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  Economist Arthur N. Young advised governments including Mexico, Germany,
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  Honduras, and, most famously, Nationalist China between 1918 and 1963. The
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  collection includes correspondence, financial statements, press releases, and
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  reports documenting his work advising governments around the world.
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  That’s your Hoover Daily Report for Monday, July 13th, twenty twenty six.
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  Each weekday, we bring you research, analysis, and commentary focused on
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  public policy, national security, and the ideas shaping American society and
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  government.
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  The Hoover Institution at Stanford University is grounded in constitutional
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  principles with a commitment to sustaining the safeguards of the American
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  way of life.
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  Thank you for listening.
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  For links to all the articles and interviews mentioned today, visit
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  hoover.org slash, HDR.