Depending on one’s outlook and relationship status (and a willingness to spend lavishly on romantic gestures), Valentine's Day is an annual ritual to be loved or loathed. But is it living up to its unstated end goal – i.e., romance blossoming into love and commitment, which in turn leads to parenthood? Valerie Ramey, an economist and the Hoover Institution’s Thomas Sowell Senior Fellow, looks at the economic engine that is Valentines Day (literally “a day of wine and roses”), the various social factors that’ve contributed to America’s declining birth rate, plus why it is that modern-day parents engage in what she calls the "rug rat race” – mothers and fathers raising children in a more hands-on manner so as to assure their progeny are admitted to top-flight universities.

Recorded on February 12, 2026.

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Valerie Ramey is the Thomas Sowell Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution. She is also a research associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research, a Research Fellow of the Centre for Economic Policy and Research, a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a Fellow of the Econometric Society.

Ramey has published numerous scholarly and policy-relevant articles on macroeconomic topics such as the sources of business cycles, the effects of monetary and fiscal policy, the effects oil price shocks, and the impact of volatility on growth. She has also written numerous articles on trends in wage inequality and trends in time use, such as the increase in time investments in children by educated parents. Her work has been featured in major media, such as the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times.

Bill Whalen, the Virginia Hobbs Carpenter Distinguished Policy Fellow in Journalism and a Hoover Institution research fellow since 1999, writes and comments on campaigns, elections and governance with an emphasis on California and America’s political landscapes. Whalen writes on politics and current events for various national publications, as well as Hoover’s California On Your Mind web channel.

Whalen hosts Hoover’s Matters of Policy & Politics podcast and serves as the moderator of Hoover’s GoodFellows broadcast exploring history, economics, and geopolitical dynamics.

RELATED SOURCES

• The Rug Rat Race by Garey Ramey & Valerie A. Ramey

ABOUT THE SERIES

Matters of Policy & Politics, a podcast from the Hoover Institution, examines the direction of federal, state, and local leadership and elections, with an occasional examination of national security and geopolitical concerns, all featuring insightful analysis provided by Hoover Institution scholars and guests.

To join our newsletter and be the first to tune into the next episode, visit Matters of Policy & Politics.

While the concept of robots supplanting humans may seem the stuff of science fiction, it is in fact advancing rapidly in all sorts of real-world applications – healthcare, manufacturing, even warfare. Allison Okamura, a Hoover science fellow, Stanford University engineering professor and contributor to this year’s Stanford Emerging Technology Review (SETR), discusses robotics’ growth in present-day and future societies. Among the topics discussed: how the 10 science and technology reports within the SETR review are interwoven; the integration of robotics into everyday life; a “100,000-year data gap” and massive shortage of training data for physical robot manipulation; Elon Musk’s new Optimus Gen 3 model and the feasibility of robotic workforces; the public’s comfort level with autonomous technology (would you take a Waymo to the airport?); what the future may hold (better robotic “brains” and “bodies” and soft shape-changing fabrics, greater intelligence and physical autonomy, improvements in robotic hands and humanoids’ dexterous manipulation).

Recorded on February 4, 2026.

RELATED SOURCES

• Learn more about the Stanford Emerging Technology Review.

• Learn more about the Technology Policy Accelerator.

Evidence that history is repeating itself: Franklin Roosevelt’s plea in late 1940 to reimagine his nation as an “arsenal of democracy” willing to defy fascism and arm the free world, compared 85 years later to the question of America deterring China’s growing military prowess while also reexamining its role in the Caribbean (likewise an FDR obsession prior to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor). Hoover fellows and historians Joseph Ledford and Eyck Freymann discuss their respective fields of expertise (Western Hemisphere for Ledford and China-Taiwan for Freymann), how those two theaters are intertwined (could a crisis in the Indo-Pacific prompt China to create mischief in the Americas?), plus how to read Beijing’s ambitions (is Xi Jinping too risk-averse to invade Taiwan?) and Donald Trump’s designs on his “backyard” (is Venezuela the beginning or the end of the US engaging in the affairs of its regional neighbors?).

Recorded on January 27, 2026.

California’s new year begins with a “new” version of Gov. Gavin Newsom – offering Sacramento lawmakers a detailed and in-person State of the State Address, as opposed to recent years when the governor eschewed such pageantry. 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 product manager Jonathan Movroydis to discuss Newsom’s “rosy” vision of California versus the realities of chronic homelessness, a lack of affordable housing, slow-track high-speed-rail construction, plus a revenue stream overly dependent upon the AI boom. Also discussed: reorganizing state constitutional offices; San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan’s emergence as a Newsom foil and possible gubernatorial candidate; a proposed billionaire tax driving capital out of California; and a lack of Iran-related protests on college campuses despite the considerable Iranian-American population in Los Angeles County.

Recorded on January 15, 2026.

What do America and Israel share other, other than shared values and a strategic alliance against the forces of tyranny? Try: declarations of independence and a celebration of individual rights that have stood the test of time (nearly 250 years for the US, nearly 80 years for Israel). Peter Berkowitz, the Hoover Institution’s Tad and Dianne Taube Senior Fellow and a celebrated constitutional scholar and lecturer, discusses what he witnessed fresh off a visit to the Middle East. Among the topics discussed: Israel at a crossroads in 2026 (peace in Gaza, perhaps another strike against Iran, a national election later this year) and its evolution as a free society versus where America currently stands. Berkowitz also reflects on his participation in the first Trump Administration State Department’s Commission on Unalienable Rights, building off what Thomas Jefferson penned back in 1776, plus the “Varieties of Conservatism in America” course he teaches as part of Stanford University’s Civics initiative and how it pertains to the competition (1776 and independence vs. 1619 and the introduction of slavery) to influence America’s origins to younger generations.

Recorded on January 5, 2026.

Before long, holiday celebrations, family gatherings, and gift-sharing will give way to a new year and the question of resolutions and crafting a better self. William (Bill) Damon, a Hoover Institution senior fellow and Stanford University lifespan development psychologist, discusses his decades-long research into the quest for purposefulness in life, not so much self-improvement as it is being a positive contributor to the common good and the realization of purpose and integrity in work, creativity, family, and relations.

Recorded on December 17, 2025.

Further evidence that time (and politics) flies by: it was 25 years ago this month that the U.S. Supreme Court settled the final outcome of both Florida’s presidential vote count and America’s choice for its 43rd president. Ben Ginsberg, the Hoover Institution’s Volker Distinguished Visiting Fellow, a preeminent authority on election law and a member of the Bush-Cheney’s legal team in the 36 days of post-election litigation and maneuvering back in 2000, discusses the two sides’ legal strategies, Bush v. Gore’s lasting impact on America’s political landscape, election-integrity matters approaching in 2026 (new voter-ID laws, the federal-state power struggle), plus his work at Hoover involving ways to restore the electorate’s trust in the voting process.