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8/6/2019 Hoover Institution Newsletter - Summer 2006
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N ew York Times columnist and
author David Brooks discussed
“What’s Happening to the Republican
Party” in his talk at the opening dinner
of the 2006 Hoover Spring Retreat on
April 30.Brooks said he believes that the dif-
ferences between entrenched Washing-
ton, D. C., policy wonks and elected
conservatives from other parts of the
country have made it difficult for them
to work with one another. President
George W. Bush has many good ideas,
POWER , POLITICS ARE
THEMES OF SPRING
RETREAT
Edward Lazear, chairman of the pres-
ident’s Council of Economic Advis-
ers and the Morris Arnold Cox SeniorFellow on leave, is the recipient of the
2006 Society of Labor Economists’
Jacob Mincer Prize honoring lifetime
achievements in the field of labor eco-
nomics.
At the same meeting of the society,
during May 5 and 6, three Hoover
senior fellows—Robert Hall, Eric
Hanushek, and Thomas MaCurdy—
were among the fellows elected. By
granting them the honorary title of
fellow, the society recognizes labor econ-
omists who have made contributions of
unusual distinction to the field.
“We are proud that the Society of
Labor Economists has honored these
four Hoover fellows for their exemplary
achievements,” said Hoover director
John Raisian. “I have always felt that
Hoover is very strong in the areas of
labor market analysis and the impor-
tance of human capital accumulation in
society. These scholars have distin-guished themselves over the years, and it
is gratifying to have the society recog-
nize their contributions.”
Lazear is the Jack Steele Parker Profes-
sor of Human Resources, Management
and Economics at Stanford University’s
SOCIETY OF L ABOR
ECONOMISTS HONORS
EDWARD L AZEAR , 3NAMED FELLOWS
Summer 200
NewsletterH O O V E R I N S T I T U T I O N
The very latest HOOVER newsupdated daily news, features, people, and events
at the Hoover Institution at— www.hoover.org
Author and columnist David Brooksdiscusses the Republican Party and
American politics during the springretreat.
Photo by Steve Gladfelter/Visual Art Services
• I N S I D E •
HERBERT HOOVER IN POLANDEXHIBIT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
FELLOWS COLLABORATE
ON STANFORD GLOBAL ISSUES
PROJECT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Q&A: STEPHEN HABER ON THE
IMMIGRATION WAVE FROM
MEXICO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
continued on page 8 continued on page 5
When Hoover director John
Raisian and fellows Peter
Berkowitz and Tod Lindberg analyzedthe possibilities, they knew they had a
winning plan with which to share good
ideas in policy.
The plan started with the essay
“Power and Weakness,” by Rober
Kagan, in Hoover’s own Policy Review
journal, which Lindberg edits, in
June/July 2002. The piece was expand
ed by Kagan into a short book that
became a best seller for a major U.S
publishing house.
What Raisian, Berkowitz, and Lind
berg discovered—having successfully
developed a powerful but modest
length essay into a moderate-sized
book that led to heated and healthy
discussion around the world—was a
new niche for publishing at the Hoover
HOOVER STUDIES
SERIES BOOKS ARE
WINNING PLANS FOR
POLICY DISCUSSION
continued on page 4
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Why are the countries of the world, for the most part,divided between rich, democratic states and poor, au-
thoritative states? How is it that some countries have success-
fully implemented free market concepts, whereas others have
tried and failed? These are some of the questions being
studied by Hoover fellows Stephen Haber, Herbert Klein, and
Barry Weingast as part of a campuswide collaboration at
Stanford University to identify and respond to global issues.
Their research is being funded by grants from Stanford Uni-
versity’s Presidential Fund for Innovation in International
Studies. The Presidential Fund grants create opportunities for
faculty from different disciplines at Stanford University to
collaborate on research and teaching on issues of global sig
nificance.
Weingast, a Hoover senior fellow and the Ward C. Krebs
Family Professor in Stanford University’s political science de
partment, noted that one of the benefits of working with
others is that each participant brings a different perspective.
“The problem with development is that it’s not simply an
economic problem, simply a political problem, or simply a
social problem,” he said, “it’s a little of each.” Because disci-
plines are organized separately, researchers tend to concen-
trate on their own pieces, he pointed out. “Solving this
problem requires interaction of an interdisciplinary group,”
he said.
The Presidential Fund grants are the result of a process that
began in 2004. In April of that year Stanford provost John
HOOVER FELLOWS JOIN STANFORD
COLLABORATION TO IDENTIFY AND
R ESPOND TO GLOBAL ISSUES
The acclaimed exhibit Herbert Hoover in Poland: Pioneer
Humanitarian at Work, which toured Poland in 2004 and2005, showcases rare photographs, documents, posters, and
footage illustrating Herbert Hoover’s commitment to the sur-
vival and well-being of Poland.
The exhibit, which will be at the Hoover Institution until
August 26, dramatically illustrates the means by which
Hoover fulfilled his commitment to Poland during the early
twentieth century, when famine threatened that country’s pop-
ulation.
Guests at an opening reception on May 31 were welcomed
by John Raisian, director of the Hoover Institution. Other
speakers were Maciej Siekierski, curator of the East European
Collection, who discussed the development of the exhibit, and
Zbigniew Stanczyk, library specialist of the East European
Collection. The former president of Poland, Aleksander
Kwasniewski, who was in residence at Hoover as the Tad and
Dianne Taube Distinguished Visiting Fellow, was among the
guests at the reception.
The exhibition and accompanying catalog were made possi-
ble through the support of the Taube Family Foundation and
Henrietta Fankhauser, with assistance from the Herbert
Hoover Presidential Library and Museum in West Branch,
Iowa.
During and after World War I, Hoover directed the largestrelief operation ever mounted in Europe, during which mil-
lions of Europeans were saved from starvation and death. In
the first months of 1919, tens of thousands of railcars full of
food sent from the United States left Gdansk on their way to
Polish cities. Within six months, more than $50 million worth
of food had been delivered. In 1919 alone, the program fed
more than 1.5 million children. After 1920, Hoover increased
that number to two million and expanded the number of
kitchens to ten thousand. For almost four years following the
war, half a billion meals were fed to the hungry and starving
of Poland.
During World War II, Hoover led another organization, the
Commission for Polish Relief, which again alleviated the suf
ferings of hundreds of thousands of Polish people. After the
war, in 1946, Hoover visited Poland and drafted yet another
relief plan. For the next thirty years Poles benefited from that
assistance.
The exhibit is open to the public in the Herbert Hoover Me-
morial Exhibit Pavilion, next to Hoover Tower, and is free ofcharge. Pavilion hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 11:00
a.m. to 4:00 p.m. More information is available a
www.hoover.org/hila/pavilionexhibit.htm or by telephoning
650-723-3563.
HERBERT HOOVER IN POLAND
EXHIBIT SHOWCASES COMMITMENT
TO POLAND AND ITS PEOPLE
continued on page 4
Former Polish president Aleksander Kwasniewski, center, meetswith Hoover overseer Tad Taube, left, and East European libraryspecialist Zbigniew Stanczyk at the exhibit opening.
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Robert Conquest honored forscholarship on Ukraine
Hoover research fellow Robert Conquest,
center, was honored with Ukraine’s Medal of
Iaroslav Mudryi on June 15 for his path-
breaking scholarship on the Ukrainian famine
of 1932–33 in his book Harvest of Sorrow
(1986). Joining Conquest at the ceremony
were Oleh Shamshur, left, ambassador from
Ukraine to the United States, and Conquest’s
colleague Hoover senior fellow John Dunlop,
whose work also focuses on Russia.
Photo by Zbigniew Stanczyk
Liechtenstein’s Prince Alois, above, and
its Ambassador to the U.S. Claudia
Fritsche met with Hoover’s George P.
Shultz, the Thomas W. and Susan B.
Ford Distinguished Fellow, on May 31.
Deputy Secretary of the United
States Treasury Robert Kimmitt
visited the Hoover Institution on
Friday, May 5. He was the guest of
honor at a roundtable discussion
with Hoover fellows.
Li Junru, vice president of the
Chinese Communist Central Party
School, visited the Hoover
Institution on Friday, April 21. He
met with Hoover scholars to
discuss political trends in
contemporary China.
Major General Gerald
Minetti, director ofCENTCOM, visited
Hoover on May 9. He
offered the military’s
insight and
perspective on Iraq,
Afghanistan, the Horn
of Africa, and the
global war on terror.
CENTCOM has
responsibility for
military operations in
twenty-seven
countries.
Bigadier General
Mark T. Kimmitt,deputy director of
plans for the U.S.
Central Command
(CENTCOM), on
May 23 met with
Hoover fellows
and addressed the
future of
counterterror
operations in the
Middle East and
outlined the
principles behind CENTCOM’s military strategy and
organization in the region.
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Institution.
Early on, the project was nicknamed
“small books.” After several years,
these so-called small books (no more
than 250 pages each) have come to
comprise a growing body of solid work
devoted to timely topics in politics and
economics being pursued by Hooverfellows and the Hoover Institution.
The new project was launched under
the rubric of Hoover Studies in Politics,
Economics, and Society—the Hoover
Studies series, for short—with
Berkowitz and Lindberg serving as
general editors.
“John Raisian was anxious to reach
busy people with the good ideas pro-
duced by Hoover fellows and others,”said Tod Lindberg. “The idea was and
is to appeal to readers on the basis of
good research and well-defined con-
cepts and proposals. We aim these
books at journalists and academics and
policy makers, including businesspeo-
ple. The idea is that, in time it takes to
fly from one city to another, on, say, a
business trip, the reader can dive into a
book, spend some focused time reading
material that is well written but not too
technical, and land having learned a lotabout a topic or issue or idea.”
The books in the series are copub-
lished with Rowman and Littlefield
Publishers, which has a solid track
record in the area of book marketing
and distribution.
Books in the series to date include
I Warrant for Terror: The Fatwas of
Radical Islam and the Duty to Jihad ,
by Shmuel BarI Fight Club Politics: How Partisan
ship Is Poisoning the House of Repre-
sentatives, by Juliet Eilperin
I Uncertain Shield: The U.S. Intelli
gence System in the Throes of Reform
by Richard Posner
Lindberg said that the Hoover
Studies series books under develop
ment are on such topics as the United
Nations, the U.S. judicial system, U.S
welfare policy, and U.S. foreign policy
regarding the promotion of democracyin the Middle East and elsewhere.
Further information about books in
the Hoover Studies Series is available
from the Hoover Institution
Press at 1-800-935-8626 or
www.hooverpress.org
HOOVER STUDIES
SERIES BOOKS
continued from page 1
Etchemendy announced what would become the Internation-
al Initiative, an effort to tap into the expertise of faculty in
identifying and addressing issues of global importance.
Under the leadership of Coit Blacker, director of the
Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI), and
Elisabeth Pate-Cornell, management science and engineering
professor and a senior fellow with FSI, a steering committee
for the International Initiative established three broad cross-
cutting themes for research: Pursuing Security in an Insecure
World, Reforming and Improving Governance at All Levelsof Society, and Advancing Human Well-Being. In October
2005 FSI posted a call for grant proposals that included each
theme of the International Initiative and called for an inter-
disciplinary approach to the research.
Of eight grants awarded by the Presidential Fund, two went
to projects being participated in by Hoover fellows: “Gover-
nance under Authoritarian Rules” and “Evaluating Institu
tional Responses to Market Liberalization: Why Latin
America Was Left Behind.”
Stephen H. Haber is the Peter and Helen Bing Senior
Fellow at Hoover. Herbert Klein is a Hoover research fellow
COLLABORATION ON GLOBAL ISSUEScontinued from page 2
“While the objective of home-
land security is clear, the
road map is not,” said National Securi-
ty Affairs fellow Scott F. Smith, U.S.
Air Force, who discussed the issue in
the seminar “A House Divided: Our Bi-
furcated National Security” on April 6.Following 9/11, new strategies and
organizations, such as the Department
of Homeland Security and the Nation-
al Response Plan, were developed to
enhance the domestic mission of na-
tional security, Smith pointed out.
“Despite these changes,” Smith said,
“the nation’s conceptual and opera-
tional approach lacks an embrace of a
wartime mission, which limits both ef-
ficient and effective levels of security.”
Other National Security Affairsfellows completing a year at the
Hoover Institution and their seminar
topics were Brian K. Buckles, with the
U.S. Marine Corps, “Coming Ashore:
The Future of Amphibious Warfare,”
on March 23; Jim Fanell, with the U.S.
Navy, “People’s Liberation Army Navy
(PLAN): Out from the First Island
Chain?” on March 30; and Jonathan
Moore, U.S. State Department, “The
State Department’s New Skills and
New Challenges: Defining Transformational Diplomacy,” on April 20.
The National Security Affairs
Fellows Program allows military per
sonnel to pursue intensive, independent
research on topics relevant to their
service careers during an academic year
spent in research and study at the
Hoover Institution.
N ATIONAL SECURITY A FFAIRS FELLOWS PRESENT
R ESEARCH SEMINARS
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Graduate School of Business. He taught
previously at the University of Chicago’sGraduate School of Business, where he
was the Brown Professor of Urban and
Labor Economics.
Founding
editor of the
Journal of
Labor Eco-
nomics, he is
also an
e l e c t e d
fellow of the
A m e r i c a n
Academy of
Arts and Sci-
e n c e s
(2000), the
Econometric
Society, and
the Society of Labor Economists. He is a
research associate of the National
Bureau of Economic Research and a
member of the National Academy of
Sciences and the Board on Testing andAssessment.
His book Personnel Economics (MIT
Press, 1995) expands on his 1993 Wick-
sell Lecture. Lazear’s newest edited
volume is Education in the Twenty-first
Century (Hoover Institution Press,
2002).
The Mincer Prize is awarded annually
to two social scientists in recognition of
their contributions. The other winner is
Richard B. Freeman, Harvard Universi-
ty.
Hoover fellow Robert Hall holds a
joint position endowed by Robert andCarole McNeil as a senior fellow at the
Hoover Institution and a professor in
the economics department at Stanford
University. He is a member of the Na-
tional Academy of Sciences and a fellow
of the American Academy of Arts and
Sciences and of the Econometric Society.
Hall, an active proponent of the flat tax,
cowrote The Flat Tax (Hoover Institu-tion Press, 1985 and 1995).
Eric Hanushek is the Paul and Jean
Hanna Senior Fellow at Hoover. He is
also chairman of the Executive Commit-
tee for the Texas Schools Project at the
University of Texas at Dallas, a research
associate of the National Bureau of Eco-
nomic Research, and a member of the
Koret Task Force on K–12 Education. In
2004, he was appointed as a member o
the National Board for Education Sci
ences for a two-year term. He was re
cently appointed to the California gover
nor’s Advisory Committee on EducationExcellence.
Thomas MaCurdy holds a joint ap
pointment as the Dean Witter Senio
Fellow at Hoover and a professor o
economics at Stanford University. He is
also a senior fellow at the Stanford Insti-
tute of Economic Policy Research, an
adjunct fellow at the Public Policy Insti
tute of California, and a research associ-ate of the National Bureau of Economic
Research.
The Society of Labor Economists was
founded in 1996 to promote the study of
labor economics and to make more sig
nificant the contribution of labor eco-
nomics and labor economists.
J ACOB MINCER PRIZE;THREE FELLOWS
continued from page 1
Edward Lazear Robert Hall Eric Hanushek Thomas MaCurdy
The William C. and Barbara H. Edwards Media Fellows
Program allows print and broadcast media professionals
to spend time in residence at the Hoover Institution.
Media fellows have the opportunity to exchange informa-
tion and perspectives with Hoover scholars through seminars
and informal meetings and with the Hoover and Stanford
communities in public lectures. As fellows, they have access
to the full range of research tools that Hoover offers.
More than 100 of the nation’s top journalists have visited
the Hoover Institution recently and interacted with Hoover
fellows on key public policy issues, including
Scott Higham, Washington Post, May 1–5Andrew Nagorski, Newsweek, May 8–12
Greg Sangillo, National Journal, May 8–12
Tom Edsall, Washington Post, May 8–12
David Kaplan, Newsweek, May 15–19
David Plotz, Slate.com, May 29–June 2
Robert Draper, Gentleman’s Quarterly, June 5–9
Elizabeth Bumiller, New York Times, June 5–9
Joyce Murdoch, National Journal, July 24–28
Deb Price, Detroit News, July 24–28
Tom Bethell, freelance, August 15–September 8
Griffin Smith, Arkansas Democrat, August 21–25
HOOVER MEDIA FELLOWS PROGRAM
OFFERS A CCESS TO R ESEARCH,SCHOLARS
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Q: What policy should America adopt
toward illegal immigrants from
Mexico? You’ve done quite a bit of
work on this issue, and it’s not one that
can be easily solved or will go away.
What are the perspectives and issues at
stake in this discussion?
A: One view is that illegal immigrants
drive down the wages of American
workers, burden taxpayers, and under-
mine the integrity of American culture.
That view is embodied in the recent
immigration bill passed by the House
of Representatives: it seeks to seal off
the border and treat immigrants who
are already here as felons.
Q: But there is also a positive view of
this immigration, isn’t there?
A: A second view is that Mexican im-migrants increase the competitiveness
of the United States economy. That
view is embodied in the draft legisla-
tion in the Senate that would make it
possible for illegal immigrants who
have been in the U.S. for more than
five years to obtain a visa and eventu-
ally citizenship—provided they learn
English. The Senate bill also contains
provisions for workers who have been
here for less than five years to either
obtain a green card or become a guest
worker, after they return to Mexico
and make the necessary applications.
Q: But there is more to this issue.
Could you discuss this?
A: Any serious attempt at reform needs
to take account of facts regarding
illegal immigrants that are often given
a back seat to ideology by partisans on
either side of the debate.
Any serious attempt at immigration
reform also needs to take account of
facts about Mexico’s fragile economy
and democracy—facts that both sides
in the debate have tended to miss en-
tirely. Indeed, most discussion about
immigration reform implicitly assumes
that its effects stop at the border. The
truth is that our immigration policy is
more consequential for what happens
to Mexico’s political and social stabili-
ty than it is for America’s economy or
cultural integrity.
Q: You’ve noted that there are also a
number of fine points to be considered
A: Those who favor a "soft line" on
Mexican immigration often simulta
neously argue that Mexican workers
make American industry more interna-
tionally competitive and that Mexican
workers do not reduce the wages o
U.S.-born workers.
Both statements could simultaneous
ly be true if Mexican immigrants in
cluded large numbers of highly educat-
ed electrical engineers and molecular
biologists who had a tremendously
positive effect on American total factor
productivity.
But Mexican immigrants tend to
have very low levels of education by
U.S. standards; they also tend to
6
W AVES WASHING OVER
THE BORDER
Q & A
Stephen Haber
Peter and Helen Bing Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution;A. A. and Jeanne Welch Milligan Professor in the School of Hu-manities and Science and director of the Social Science HistoryInstitute at Stanford University. Also a senior fellow at the Stan-
ford Institute for Economic Policy Research, a senior fellow atthe Center for International Development, and a research econ-omist at the National Bureau of Economic Research.
The relationship between political organization and economicgrowth, with most research focused on Latin America, particu-larly Mexico and Brazil
The Politics of Property Rights: Political Instability, CredibleCommitments, and Economic Growth in Mexico (CambridgeUniversity Press, 2003); The Mexican Economy, 1870–1930:Essays on the Economic History of Institutions, Revolution, and Growth (Stanford University Press, 2002); Crony Capitalism and Economic Growth in Latin America (Hoover Press, 2002); Polit-ical Institutions and Economic Growth in Latin America (HooverPress, 2000); How Latin America Fell Behind: Essays on the Eco-nomic Histories of Brazil and Mexico, 1800–1914 (Stanford Uni-versity Press, 1997); Industry and Underdevelopment: The Indus-trialization of Mexico, 1890–1940 (Stanford University Press,1989). He is also the author of numerous articles on Latin Amer-ican political economy.
American Association of Political Science, the AmericanAcademy of Political and Social Science, and the Association of Iranian Studies
Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles
F E L L O W
T I T L E
R E S E A R C H
P U B L I C A T I O N S
A F F I L I A T I O N S
D E G R E E S
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The Hoover Institution Newsletter is published quarterly and distributed by the
Hoover Institution, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305-6010, 650/723-
0603, fax, 650/725-8611. ©2006 by the Board of Trustees of the Leland Stan-
ford Junior University. Send comments and requests for information to
Newsletter Editor Michele M. Horaney, APR, Manager of Public Affairs. Staff:
Public Affairs Writer: LaNor Maune, Newsletter Production: Wm Freeman,
Stanford Design Group. The Hoover Institution Home Page is on the World
Wide Web at www.hoover.org.
The Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace, Stanford University,
founded in 1919 by Herbert Hoover, is one of the leading centers in the world
devoted to interdisciplinary scholarship in domestic and international affairs.
H O O V E R I N S T I T U T I O N W E B S I T E S
www.hoover.org
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www.policyreview.org
www.chinaleadershipmonitor.org
Comprehensive information about the Institution, its fellows, work, scholarly output,
and outreach
Quarterly Hoover Digest available online
Presents the facts about education reform, gives voice—without fear or favor—to
worthy research, sound ideas, and responsible arguments.
Is the preeminent publication for new and serious thinking and writing about the
issues of our day. At this site, find select articles from the current issue as well as an
archive of back issues, subscription information, and useful links to other websites.
Seeks to inform the American foreign policy community about current trends in
China’s leadership politics and in its foreign and domestic policies.
H O O V E R I N S T I T U T I O N N E W S L E T TE R
cluster in industries that produce goods
that do not enter into international
trade, such as restaurant meals, home
construction, landscaping, and janitor-
ial services.
Q: So it looks as though the effects of
immigration from Mexico are notsevere.
A: The overall effect of Mexican immi-
gration on the U.S. economy overall is
trivial. However, to the degree that
Mexican immigration makes some in-
dustries more internationally competi-
tive, it does so by reducing the wages
of the U.S.-born workers in those in-
dustries. And this reduction is not
trivial. Careful research done by
Harvard University’s George Borjas in-
dicates that Mexican immigration has
caused a 7 percent decline in the wages
of U.S.-born high school dropouts and
a 1 percent decline in the wages of
workers with only a high school
diploma. Score one for the hard-liners
on immigration.
Q: So it would seem to be a good idea
to take a hard line?
A: Hard-liners, however, have it wrong
about the social and cultural impact of
immigration on the U.S. They tend tolook at recent immigrants and decry
their low levels of education, difficul-
ties with the English language, and
propensity to choose marriage partners
from their own immigrant group. They
tend to ignore that every other large-
scale immigrant group in the history of
the U.S.—Poles, Italians, Irish, Eastern
European Jews—had many of the
exact same social and cultural charac-
teristics.
Q: So we do have a track record on
how immigration works out over the
long term.
A: Correct. The impact of immigration
on American culture is not determined
by what immigrants do, but by what
their children and grandchildren do.Here the evidence is unambiguous: The
children and grandchildren of Mexican
immigrants assimilate and move up the
income ladder. Meticulous research by
James Smith at the Rand Corporation
demonstrates that second- and third-
generation Mexican Americans quickly
overcome the educational deficit faced
by their immigrant parents and grand-
parents. As a result, they do not consti-
tute a permanent economic underclass;
they have been steadily narrowing the
income gap with native-born whites.
Nor do they constitute a social and cul-
tural group independent of mainstream
America. The reason is clear: 80
percent of third-generation Mexican
Americans cannot speak Spanish.
Score one for the soft-liners on immi-
gration.
Q: So both sides have good points to
make.
A: And yet both sides in the immigra-tion debate have it wrong when it
comes to one core assumption—that
Mexican immigration is only a domes-
tic policy issue. What we choose to do
will have serious ramifications for
Mexico.
To understand why, we need to take
into account that the large-scale immi-
gration of Mexicans to the U.S. is a
recent phenomenon. Until the 1980s,
Mexicans migrated to the U.S. at very
modest rates—on the order of 50,000
people per year. In the 1980s it surged
to roughly 200,000 people per year
and in the 1990s it went through the
roof, averaging 500,000 people pe
year. The reason is that the Mexican
economy collapsed in the early 1980s
and since then Mexico’s per capitaGDP, adjusted for inflation, has grown
at a staggeringly slow 0.7 percent per
year, less than one-third the U.S. rate.
There is little reason to think that the
Mexican economy will recover any
time soon. Indeed, all of the fundamen
tals, most particularly the preference of
foreign multinational companies to site
new facilities in China instead of in
Mexico, point toward continued slow
growth.
Q: What would happen to Mexico if
we were to suddenly cut off the escape
valve provided by immigration to the
U.S.?
A: Unemployment and underemploy
ment, already major problems, would
increase dramatically in Mexico. Re
missions from immigrants, which tota
some $18 billion per year and are the
lifeblood of many rural communities
would dry up. The widespread frustra-
tion felt by the population caughbetween rising crime and diminished
economic expectations—which fuels
the populist presidential campaign of
Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador—
would almost certainly become more
acute.
There is no scenario in which these
developments would be positive fo
Mexican political and social stability
And there is no scenario in which a po-
litically and socially unstable Mexico is
in the interest of the U.S.
7
Q & A
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B O A R D O F O V E R S E E R S
he said, but there are problems, not only with the
war, where mistakes have been made, but withdomestic policy. The president, he believes, has
never learned to engage the people in Washing-
ton, D.C., who exercise authority. “So there is a
problem of translating ideas into policies that
work that has been one of the biggest problems
for the conservatives,” Brooks said. “These are
failures of government, not ideas.” He concluded
by saying that he believes that the Republican
Party is intellectually strong.
Welcoming remarks were made by John Raisian, Hoover
director, and Peter Bedford, Hoover board chairman.
In “Earthly Powers and Sacred Causes: Godless Europe?”
British historian and author Michael Burleigh noted in
remarks at dinner on May 1 that politics and religion have
long been contentious in Europe. He lauded the advantage of
a separation of church and state in the United States but cau-
tioned about the growing complication of rising Islamic
extremism around the world. He said he believes the virtues
of Western civilizations need to be reinforced in education
and in daily life.
Burleigh specializes in the history of Europe since 1789,
especially the history of ideas, politics, and religion. He also
studies the psychology and culture of terrorism. Formerly onthe faculty of Cardiff University and a visiting professor of
history at Stanford in 2003, he is the author of numerous
books including The Third Reich: A New History.
This year’s retreat featured speakers who examined U.S.
policy directions, upcoming elections, and ongoing conflicts
from varied points of views.
On Monday, May 1, Hoover senior fellow Michael
McFaul appraised the central tenet of President Bush’s
foreign policy, that of spreading democracy around the
world, in his thought-provoking talk “Promoting Democ
racy: Should We? Can We?”
In “Traffic Jams, Slang, and the Value of Your House: TheEconomics of Intended and Unintended Consequences,”
Hoover research fellow Russell Roberts explained why
public policy doesn’t always turn out as expected. “The fun-
damental reason,” Roberts said, “is a misunderstanding of
the process that creates the problem.”
Fox News reporter Major Garrett asked the question “Are
Democrats Primed for a Revolution Like the GOP Revolu-
tion of ’94?” In his remarks he noted that in the upcoming
election the Democrats need 15 seats in the House of Repre
sentatives to regain control.
“We live in an instant world,” Stephen Bainbridge said
“after Enron we got instant legislation.” In his talk, “Sar
banes-Oxley: Legislating in Haste, Repenting at Leisure,”
Bainbridge, professor of law at the University of California
Los Angeles, discussed how recent legislation enacted follow-
ing business scandals such as Enron is impeding busines
development.
The author of A Wealth of Ideas: Revelations from the
Hoover Institution Archives, Bertrand Patenaude, also a
Hoover research fellow, spoke about his book. A Wealth of
Stephen Haber
POWER , POLITICS ARE
THEMES OF SPRING RETREAT
Hoover director John Raisian
Hoover senior fellows, from left, Michael Boskin, John Cogan, John Shoven,and John Taylor discussed U.S. domestic policy.
Historian Michael Burleigh
continued from page 1
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B O A R D O F O V E R S E E R S
Ideas draws on the extraordinarily rich collections of theHoover Institution Library and Archives to illuminate and
illustrate some of the most important ideas, individuals, and
events of the twentieth century.
The mind-sets and worldviews of terrorists were discussed
by Shmuel Bar in “The Islamic Conflict with the West:
Fatwas and Strategies.” Bar, who recently published Warrant
for Terror: Fatwas of Radical Islam and the Duty of Jihad
(Hoover Studies and Rowman and Littlefield, 2006),
explained that fatwas provide legal and moral dispensation
for acts of terrorism that are deemed to fulfill the duty of
jihad.
In his talk, “Mexican Immigration, the Mexican Economy,
and U.S. Policy,” Stephen Haber, Hoover senior fellow,
examined the pros and cons of the current situation. In his
discussion he noted that there are facts to support those who
are for immigration and those who oppose it.
Victor Davis Hanson, Hoover senior fellow, who recently
returned from the Middle East, spoke about his views in his
talk, “Iraq: What
Went Right.”
Overall, he believes
that the region is
better off now thanit was before the
invasion by the
United States.
The retreat con-
cluded with a panel
d i s c u s s i o n ,
“Domestic Policy
Agenda in the Short
and Long Term: Is
There a Reason for Optimism between Now and 2008?”
Panel participants were Hoover senior fellows Michae
Boskin, John Cogan, John Shoven, and John Taylor.
In addition to the plenary speakers, Hoover fellows and
guest speakers presented conversations on a variety of topics
The first set of conversations included Peter Berkowitz
Hoover senior fellow, “Sharon’s Party and Israel afterSharon”; Russell Berman, Hoover senior fellow, “Europe’s
War of Ideas: Religion, Terror, and Immigration”; Pete
Robinson, Hoover research fellow, “Dubya and the Gipper
What the 43rd President Learned from the 40th—and What
He Didn’t”; and Kori Schake, Hoover research fellow, “How
to Confront Iran.”
The next set of conversations included Annelise Anderson
Hoover research fellow, and Martin Anderson, Hoove
senior fellow, “Reagan: A New Biography”; Kenneth Jowitt
Hoover senior fellow, “Potential Movements of Rage: Latin
America”; Abraham Sofaer, Hoover senior fellow, “Should
Israel Continue the Disengagement Process?”; and Tunku
Varadarajan, Hoover distinguished visiting fellow and edito-
rial features editor at the Wall Street Journal , “What on
Earth Is ‘the World’? A Radical Reinterpretation of Foreign
News (as seen by the Wall Street Journal ).”
The final set of conversations included Lawrence Chicker-
ing, Hoover research fellow, “Strategic Foreign Assistance”
David Davenport,
Hoover research
fellow, “Higher Edu-
cation: A Diversity of
Everything butIdeas”; Alvin
Rabushka, Hoover
senior fellow, “Taxes:
Present, Past, and
Future”; and David
Satter, Hoover re-
search fellow, “The
Decline of Democ-
racy in Russia.”
SPRING R ETREAT
continued from page 8
Stephen Bainbridge
Shmuel Bar Bertrand Patenaude
Major Garrett, Fox News
Victor Davis Hanson
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Instead of building an expensive, hideous, and probably ineffective Iron Curtain [at the United States–Mexico border], why not use
the money to get this simple message across to kids in American high schools: If you flunk, you’re sunk. Yes, boys and girls, aca-
demic achievement is the only route to decent employment in an economy at the top of the technological food chain. Drop out of
education without qualifications, and you’ll be lucky to get a job alongside the Mexicans picking fruit or stacking shelves.
Sounds kind of harsh, I know. But a second Great Depression sounds a lot harsher.
INiall Ferguson, senior fellow, Los Angeles Times, April 10
America welcomes more immigrants than any other country. But in keeping open that door of opportunity, we also must uphold
the rule of law and enhance a fair immigration process, as Ronald Reagan said, to “humanely regain control of our borders and
thereby preserve the value of one of the most sacred possessions of our people: American citizenship.”
I Edwin Meese, distinguished visiting fellow, New York Times, May 24
Certainly textbooks should accurately portray society in all its complexity. But to impose contemporary political requirements on
how the events are portrayed only ensures that the history we teach our students is inaccurate and dishonest. History books have
already grown larger and duller to accommodate every group’s demands.
What the state should expect of publishers is that they produce books that are as honest and accurate as possible. Such narra-
tives would be far likelier to instill humility, a recognition of human folly, an understanding of conflict and differences, and a sense
of our common humanity rather than a sense of pride.
I Diane Ravitch, senior fellow, Los Angeles Times, May 16
There is a new virtuous circle here: The International Monetary Fund has intervened in fewer crises in part because there are fewer
crises to intervene in. And there have been fewer crises in part because of the expectation that the IMF will intervene less: Antic-
ipating fewer large-scale loans from the IMF, countries have built up reserves and greatly improved monetary and fiscal policies.
Let’s not break that circle and go back to the bad old days.
I John Taylor, Bowen H. and Janice Arthur McCoy Senior Fellow, Wall Street Journal, April 19
H O O V E R I N T H E N E W S
10
The death of terrorist Abu Musab Al-
Zarqawi in June was the subject of
commentary by a number of Hoover
fellows. Speaking on his death and its
consequences were Senior Fellow
Thomas Henriksen on KGO-TV
(ABC), San Francisco, and Abraham
Sofaer, George P. Shultz Senior Fellow
in Foreign Policy and National Securi-
ty Affairs, on KNTV (NBC), San Fran-
cisco, on June 8.
OOO
Abraham Sofaer was quoted on KGO-
AM (ABC) morning news on June 13
on the formation of the new Iraqi gov-
ernment and the ability of its military
to take more control.
Sofaer also discussed alleged military
misconduct on KGO-TV (ABC), San
Francisco, on June 2.
OOO
Negotiations with Iran to halt itsnuclear development program were
discussed by Victor Davis Hanson, the
Martin and Illie Anderson Senior
Fellow, on June 1 on the Big Story on
the Fox News Channel.
Research Fellow Abbas Milani dis-
cussed political struggles within Iran
and its threats over nuclear capability
on KTVU-TV (Fox), San Francisco, on
June 5 and on KCBS-AM (CBS) radio,
San Francisco, on June 6.
OOO
Senior Fellow Michael McFaul was in
terviewed on ABC’s World New
Tonight on May 10 about Russian
president Vladimir Putin’s recent criti-
cism of United States foreign policy.
OOO
Research Fellow Shelby Steele was fea
tured on News Weekend on KRON
TV (Independent), San Francisco, onMay 7 as he discussed his new book
White Guilt and his work on race and
social issues. He also was a guest on
News and Notes with Ed Gordon on
National Public Radio on May 5.
OOO
Research Fellow William Ratliff ad
dressed the potential threat o
Venezuela to the United States on
KGO-AM (ABC) on May 30.
H O O V E R O N T H E A I R
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Strategic Foreign Assistance: Civil Society in
International Security
by A. Lawrence Chickering, Isobel Coleman,
P. Edward Haley, and Emily Vargas-BaronISBN: 0-8179-4712-4
In Strategic Foreign Assistance: Civil Society in Interna-tional Security (Hoover Institution Press, 2006), Hoover
fellow A. Lawrence Chickering
and his coauthors examine the
roles local civil society organiza-
tions (CSOs) could play in pro-
moting change in countries that
resist advice from other states
and from international organiza-
tions.
Chickering is a Hoover
research fellow and founder and
president of Educate Girls Glob-
ally, a CSO that promotes girls’
education in developing coun-
tries. Coauthors are Isobel
Coleman, senior fellow, U.S. foreign policy, and director
of the Women and U.S. Foreign Policy Program of the
Council on Foreign Relations; P. Edward Haley, Wm. M.
Keck Professor of International Strategic Studies at Clare-
mont-McKenna College; and Emily Vargas-Baron, direc-
tor of the Institute for Reconstruction and International
Security through Education.
The Struggle across the Taiwan Strait
by Ramon H. Myers and Jialin ZhangISBN: 0-8179-4692-6
Hoover fellows Ramon Myers and Jialin Zhang have
written in The Struggle across the Taiwan Strait a short,
concise history that informs readers how China divided,in 1949, into two regimes that have struggled ever since
to achieve increasingly incom-
patible political goals.
The authors describe how, for
more than a half century, com-
peting authorities had struggled
to unify China. Then, on March
18, 2000, a political earthquake
shook Taiwan as Taiwan’s
people elected a regime that
champi oned a new belief
system. “Taiwan nationalism,”
as the authors refer to it, has
locked both sides into a new
contest that increases the proba-
bility of war rather than peace.
Ramon H. Myers is a Hoover senior fellow whose most
recent publication is as coeditor of Making China Policy:
Lessons from the Bush and Clinton Administrations
(Rowman & Littlefield, 2001).
Jialin Zhang is a Hoover visiting scholar. He received
his degree at the Moscow Institute of International Rela-
tions in 1960 and was a senior fellow at the ShanghaiInstitute for International Studies. He is also the coauthor
of The Turnover of Political Power in Taiwan (2002).
R E C E N T R E L E A S E S
OTHER RECENT BOOKS BY HOOVER FELLOWS
I How Progressives Rewrote the Constitution
(Cato Institute) by Richard A. Epstein, the Peter and
Kirsten Bedford Senior Fellow
I The War of the World: History’s Age of Hatred
(Allen Lane) by Senior Fellow Niall Ferguson
I Uberpower
(W. W. Norton) by Research Fellow Josef Joffe
I Revolution in Orange
(Carnegie Endowment for International Peace) by
Michael McFaul, the Peter and Helen Bing Senior Fellow
I White Guilt: How Blacks and Whites Together
Destroyed the Promise of the Civil Rights Era
(HarperCollins) by Research Fellow Shelby Steele
I When Ways of Life Collide: Multiculturalism and Its
Discontents in the Netherlands
(Princeton University Press) by Senior Fellow Fellow Paul
Sniderman (with Louk Hagendoorn)
I Libertarianism Defended
(Ashgate Publishing) by Research Fellow Tibor Machan
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HOOVER INSTITUTION
STANFORD UNIVERSITY
STANFORD, CA 94305-6010
NON-PROFIT ORG.
U.S. POSTAGE
P A I D
PERMIT NO. 114
PALO ALTO, CA
I D E A S D E F I N I N G A F R E E S O C I E T Y
…investing in knowledge and scholarship
Senior fellow Eric A. Hanushek is one of three pioneers
in educational research and policy development chosenfor membership in the National Academy of Education.
The appointments were announced on May 24 by
Lorrie Shepard, president of the National Academy of Ed-
ucation.
Also named were William H. Schmidt, codirector of the
Education Policy Center and distinguished professor at
Michigan State University, and Sidney Strauss, chairman
of the Department of Education and professor of educa-
tional psychology at Tel Aviv University.
Hanushek, the Paul and Jean Hanna Senior Fellow in
Education at Hoover and a member of its Koret Task
Force on K–12 Education, was trained as an economist.
He is widely recognized for his groundbreaking research
on the multifaceted relationship between economics and
education. For decades his work has been the launching
pad for public debate that has had national implications
for U.S. education policy. His ongoing research spans a
number of the most important areas of education policy,including the impact of high-stakes accountability, class-
size reduction, and the importance of teacher quality. His
most recent research has focused on the importance of
teacher quality and on how the financing of schools can
promote higher student achievement.
He is a member of the National Board for Education
Sciences. He has also been appointed to Governor
Schwarzenegger’s Advisory Committee on Education Ex-
cellence.
The National Academy of Education, founded in 1965,
is an honorary society that currently has 129 members
and eight foreign associates. Total membership is limitedto 150 scholars. Over the years its members have includ-
ed such luminaries as anthropologist Margaret Meade and
psychologist Jean Piaget.
ERIC H ANUSHEK ELECTED TO MEMBERSHIP IN N ATIONAL A CADEMY
OF EDUCATION