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Hoover Daily Report | October 16, 2026 · Hoover Daily Report

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  Welcome to the Hoover Daily Report. "Ideas Advancing
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  Freedom." It's Friday, October 16th, twenty twenty six.
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  Today, Senior Fellow Valerie Ramey reflects on her time working as research
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  assistant to new Nobel laureate and Senior Fellow Emeritus Robert E. Hall.
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  Dinsha Mistree lauds the courage and gumption of Green Mountain Boy Ethan
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  Allen. And Anne Neuberger unveils a new program to harden the cyber defenses of
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  America’s most vulnerable pieces of infrastructure.
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  “New Keynesianism,” Take a Bhow.
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  Robert E. Hall, the Hoover Institution’s Robert and Carole McNeil Senior Fellow,
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  Emeritus, and a Stanford professor of economics, was named a co-recipient of
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  the 2026 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for his contributions to understanding
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  macroeconomic stabilization. He becomes the sixth Hoover economist in the past
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  half-century to receive the honor, continuing a tradition that began with
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  Milton Friedman. In a new episode of Matters of Policy & Politics, Hoover
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  Senior Fellow Valerie Ramey, who once served as Hall’s graduate research
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  assistant, discusses how his pioneering work in New Keynesian economics has
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  shaped modern economic research and influenced monetary and fiscal policy.
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  Ramey also explores Hall’s contributions to understanding economic shocks, his
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  distinctive approach to explaining complex economic ideas, and his lasting
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  influence on generations of economists.
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  A Headstrong (and Effective) Green Mountain Boy.
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  America’s military victory during the Revolutionary War owes a debt to figures
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  like Ethan Allen, the headstrong Vermonter whose capture (entirely
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  unauthorized) of Fort Ticonderoga was not only the first US offensive action in
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  history but a key ingredient in a later victory by Gen. George Washington. As
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  Hoover research fellow Dinsha Mistree tells the story, Allen and his Green
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  Mountain Boys came out of Vermont by stealth and seized the crucial fortress
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  from the British. The fort’s heavy artillery was eventually positioned on
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  the heights above Boston, forcing the king’s soldiers to evacuate the city.
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  Allen’s next act, volunteering to help invade Canada, put him in irons in an
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  English prison, but he was treated as a hero after he was freed and returned to
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  Vermont. Ethan Allen’s example points to the need for action—not just rhetoric—in
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  the cause of freedom, Mistree concludes.
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  Sanctions on Russian Oil: Lessons Learned.
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  Four years after Western governments imposed sanctions on Russian oil in
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  response to the invasion of Ukraine, Moscow continues to earn more than $200
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  billion annually from oil and gas exports. The European Union’s embargo
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  forced Russia to shift its exports toward China, India, and Turkey, increasing
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  costs and reducing revenues. A price cap imposed by the G7 on Russian oil proved
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  ineffective because of poor enforcement and, over time, Russia’s ability to
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  assemble a shadow fleet to circumvent restrictions and thus maintain its prewar
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  export volumes. Sanctions have also increased Moscow’s dependence on Beijing.
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  Meanwhile, the Iran war has delivered an unexpected revenue windfall for Russia.
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  Economists Oleg Itskhoki and Elina Ribakova examine what worked, what
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  failed, and why future sanctions require stronger enforcement, clearer objectives,
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  and measures targeting Russia’s long-term production capacity.
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  Introducing Securing America’s Infrastructure Foundation.
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  Distinguished Visiting Fellow Anne Newberger announces a new initiative
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  aimed at bolstering the cyber defenses and resilience of American
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  infrastructure, with a focus on rural America. The Securing America’s
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  Infrastructure Foundation, to be led by Newberger, will raise funds to build
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  tools and train public institutions to better defend against cyber intrusions.
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  “The pattern is consistent: The same institutions expected to protect the most
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  sensitive data and systems in our communities—student records, patient
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  files, water systems, emergency services—are the least resourced to do
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  it,” Newberger said in a release announcing the nonprofit’s formation.
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  Medicare for All Fixes Coverage for the Few by Breaking It for Everyone Else.
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  At his Substack, Policy Fellow Tom Church explains how a “Medicare for All”
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  proposal would cover the last remaining few Americans without stable health
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  insurance, at the expense of virtually everyone else’s. It would likely make
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  private health insurance illegal or unfeasible. Instead, Church points out
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  the number of uninsured in America by 2036 will be less than nine million
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  people. Extending individual market or Medicaid subsidies to them would cost
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  $113 billion, far less than any Medicare for All proposal would cost. “Medicare
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  for All makes the whole system operate based on an exception, instead of
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  allowing the system to function for most people and then making exceptions to help
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  the rest,” Church writes.
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  Featured Research Initiative: Hoover Program on the Foundations of Economic
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  Prosperity.
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  The Hoover Program on the Foundations of Economic Prosperity is dedicated to
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  producing research that empowers citizens and policymakers to make informed
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  decisions around a core question: What combination of institutions, policies,
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  and regulations is most likely to foster long-term economic prosperity?
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  That’s your Hoover Daily Report for Friday, October 16th, 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.