Oliver Hart: "I hope we can survive Trump, and not just us, but the country and the world as well."

LondonDonald Trump's new attack on Harvard University –the veto on foreign students– has caught Professor Oliver Hart – Nobel Prize winner in economics in 2016 – off campus. He himself came to the United States in 1971 as a foreign student from the United Kingdom. He earned his doctorate from Princeton and after teaching at Cambridge, the London School of Economics, and MIT in Massachusetts, he joined the Harvard faculty in 1993. He now holds the Lewis P. and Linda L. Geyser Chair at the institution. He received the Nobel Prize, along with Bengt Holmström, for their contributions to contract theory. The interview was conducted by telephone minutes after, this Friday afternoon, It has become known that a federal judge has blocked Trump's executive order.

How do you assess the Trump administration's ban? What could be the most serious implications?

— It's terrible. If this policy goes ahead, it will cause a lot of disruption and very negative consequences. Students who leave the country may never be able to return.

How many of your students might be affected?

— In my undergraduate class of 12 students, at least two would suffer its consequences directly. One of them has already left the country and may not be able to return. He's a first-year undergraduate student from Pakistan who is now in his country, and we don't know if he'll be able to return. Many international students on campus are very anxious. They're afraid of losing their legal status [the F1 visa that the university grants to students, or the J1 visa for researchers]. If they leave, even just for the summer or to see family, they may not be allowed to return. Right now, I don't know exactly what the atmosphere is like on campus because I'm in Barcelona, ​​and I can't experience it firsthand, only through emails. But it's clear that people are very worried and angry. It's a terrible situation.

How does the president's policy undermine Harvard's mission as a global center for learning, research, and dialogue?

— It almost completely destroys it. Harvard relies on international students. Some of the best come from other countries. This is especially true in my department, Economics. We've always had a significant proportion of international students. I was one myself, having come from the UK and doing my PhD at Princeton over 50 years ago. If we can't admit or retain international students, what will happen? Will Harvard become an exclusively American university? That would be a disaster.

Do you think these policies will have a chilling effect on academic freedom and freedom of expression?

— Yes, definitely. Even before the ban on foreigners, the Trump administration was already targeting students, especially those involved in debates about Middle East politics. This was clearly a free speech issue. But now it's broader: they're targeting all international students. It's gone beyond the issue of speech, although this concern is still there.

Are we returning to an era like McCarthyism?

— I was a child during that time, living in the UK, but yes, it was a disturbing time. In some ways, this is much worse now. McCarthy was just a senator, not president. Now all of this is happening at the highest level. The Trump administration is using the full power of government against the people, and this is very worrying. It has unlimited access to public funds to wage legal battles, which makes the danger even greater.

Are you confident that Harvard will win the legal battles?

— I am quite confident, because Harvard has a solid legal basis in both the original lawsuit [for the freezing of federal funds] as in potential new cases. But I'm worried that the government will simply ignore court decisions. It's already happened! In the case of Mr. García's deportation to El Salvador, The Supreme Court ordered the government to facilitate his return And he's done absolutely nothing. They said he won't return. What if Harvard wins but they still deny entry to the student who's in Pakistan? I'm afraid that could happen. And if the administration deports students even if Harvard wins, who will stop them?

What impact could this have on Harvard's ability to attract and retain international talent?

— All of this makes international students afraid to go, if they can get in at all. Not only can they be denied entry or deported if they're already there, but there's also a huge sense of insecurity. But at the same time, Harvard's standing up to the government may bolster its reputation. Some people admire it for that. If Harvard survives all of this, it could emerge stronger.

And will it survive the confrontation with Trump?

— I hope so. I think so. It will suffer, but Harvard has been around for a long time. It's not going away. One clear lesson is that we must rely less on the government. Some think Harvard should receive less public funding, because the government can decide to withdraw it at any time. And this makes alumni support even more crucial. We receive a lot of money, but we should receive more. In any case, this latest episode shows that even this wouldn't be enough. Even if we didn't have public funding, the administration could also deny visas to international students. They could do that at any university in the country. And this is very disturbing. I only hope we can survive all of this. And not just us; the country and the world must survive as well. I hope this administration is just a phase and that the future will be different for everyone. For us, all that's left is to go to court and hope for public opinion to oppose these policies.

Could the midterm elections be the first sign of change?

— I hope so, but we don't know. Many things could happen before then, like economic problems due to tariffs, or perhaps they wouldn't be as severe. In fact, I didn't think people would vote for Trump again, and I was wrong. We can't be sure what will happen in the 2026 elections.

What lessons should universities and policymakers learn to better protect the integrity and openness of academic institutions?

— I think Harvard has admitted mistakes. For example, there were issues with courses on the Middle East, some of which seemed biased. But it wasn't intentional; it was a lack of care. And the University is already taking action. But none of this justifies the Trump administration's attitude. They hate Harvard. They believe it only teaches leftist thought. They see us as Marxists, and this is absurd, but difficult to combat. I think Harvard should have more conservative voices. But I don't think there's a policy to exclude them. It's just that most young people today tend to be liberal. It's not that Harvard doesn't want conservative students.