Cato Event Podcast

Throughout the past five decades there have been many forecasts of impending environmental doom. These projections have universally been proven wrong. Those who have bet on human resourcefulness, however„ have almost always been correct. In his book, Bailey provides a detailed examination of the theories, studies, and assumptions currently spurring forecasts of calamity and shaping environmental p...

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act — a.k.a. Obamacare — remains highly controversial and faces ongoing legal and political challenges. Polls show that by a large margin Americans remain opposed to the healthcare law. However, the question is: replace it with what? In  A Better Choice: Healthcare Solutions for America , John C. Goodman provides a way out of the healthcare quagmire....

News organizations have recently documented the proliferation of synthetic or “designer” drugs that produce physical and psychological effects similar to those of traditional mind-altering substances such as marijuana, cocaine, and heroin. Policymakers have scrambled to outlaw substances that can sometimes regain legal status with a modest change in chemical makeup. Some of the new drugs even masq...

Human beings are social creatures by nature. It should therefore come as no surprise that many decisions occur within the context of social groups. Whether a decision involves choosing a restaurant or which nominee a political party should support, individuals within a group often accept trade-offs as long as decisions are made within established rules. How do these rules develop? How do individua...

Dominated by Europe's welfare states, the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has been pushing policies to enable higher taxes and bigger government. The latest example is a base erosion and profit-shifting (BEPS) initiative that would raise business tax burdens and undermine the competitiveness of American firms operating in global markets. An expert panel wil...

Are libertarians and conservatives just variations of the same ideological species, or do they represent unique and separate philosophical traditions? One of National Review 's founding editors, Frank Meyer — father of Federalist Society president Eugene Meyer — called for a synthesis of the traditionalist and libertarian strains within the magazine's followers. This "fusionism" animat...

As U.S. policymakers debate how best to deal with the problem of abusive patent litigation, some other governments have decided to fight fire with fire by creating state-owned patent assertion entities. The phenomenon deserves more attention from policymakers in Washington, who are bound to play an important role in shaping international rules to regulate these government "patent trolls." Known fo...

The Supreme Court’s decision on  King v. Burwell  validated President Obama’s massive power grab, allowing him to tax, borrow, and spend $700 billion without congressional approval. This establishes a precedent that could let any president modify, amend, or suspend any enacted law at his or her whim. As it stands, Obamacare will continue to disrupt coverage for sick Americans until Congr...

Many in Washington deny that the nation's energy needs can be met by free markets. Wars on coal and carbon dioxide follow this faith in government regulation and control of energy. Since the 1970s, however, more libertarian voices have been heard on these issues. Rob Bradley, who has been involved with free-market energy policy since its inception, will discuss the history of libertarian thinking...

Cato Connects features a LIVE discussion on Obergefell v. Hodges — what the ruling means to the 14th amendment and for marriage equality. In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court held that the Fourteenth Amendment requires a state to license a marriage between two people of the same sex. Produced by Caleb O. Brown, Austin Bragg, Tess Terrible and Kevin Sennett. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy f...

The Supreme Court has ruled in King v. Burwell that individuals who get their health insurance through an exchange established by the federal government are eligible for tax subsidies. Says Cato scholar Michael F. Cannon, “The Court today validated President Obama’s massive power grab, allowing him to tax, borrow, and spend $700 billion that no Congress ever authorized. …In doing so, the Court has...

The EPA’s most costly air-pollution and global-warming regulations are justified by the belief that small particles in outdoor air, like soot and dust, kill people. Based upon internal EPA documents and original research, Steven Milloy, publisher of the widely read blog JunkScience.com , will demonstrate that the agency’s belief does not pass scientific muster. As has been the case with climate ch...

Recent advances in energy production technology have driven a remarkable achievement: since 2008, American oil production has more than doubled and natural gas production is up about 24 percent. Directional drilling, horizontal drilling, hydraulic fracturing, and radical new advances in offshore platform technology and global positioning software have revolutionized both onshore and offshore oil a...

Please join us for a special documentary film premiere. An Unlikely Solution offers first-person perspectives on the unique, newly emerging phenomena of consumer lending, via the Internet, by Native American tribes. There are few areas of finance that generate more controversy than short-term consumer lending, especially in the form of pay-day or installment loans. Critics see such loans as “preda...

Our growing national debt has dropped out of the headlines recently — but that doesn’t mean that the problem has gone away. The official national debt recently topped $18 trillion, and is projected to approach $27 trillion within 10 years. Worse, if you include the unfunded liabilities of Social Security and Medicare, our real indebtedness exceeds $90 trillion. Yet, despite these undeniable...

In 2005 the Supreme Court ruled that the city of New London, Connecticut, could condemn residential properties and transfer them to a private developer for a planned office park (which never materialized). Although the Fifth Amendment permits taking private property only for "public use," the Court held that transfers to private parties for economic development were a sufficiently public "purpose....

In 2005 the Supreme Court ruled that the city of New London, Connecticut, could condemn residential properties and transfer them to a private developer for a planned office park (which never materialized). Although the Fifth Amendment permits taking private property only for "public use," the Court held that transfers to private parties for economic development were a sufficiently public "purpose....

In 2005 the Supreme Court ruled that the city of New London, Connecticut, could condemn residential properties and transfer them to a private developer for a planned office park (which never materialized). Although the Fifth Amendment permits taking private property only for "public use," the Court held that transfers to private parties for economic development were a sufficiently public "purpose....

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June marks the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta, the “Great Charter of Liberties” that King John of England agreed to and that aimed to limit the Crown’s power. The Magna Carta exerted a significant influence on the development of the common law in England and subsequently in the United States. Richard Helmholz will explain the emergence of the Magna Carta, describe its substance, and discuss...

June marks the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta, the “Great Charter of Liberties” that King John of England agreed to and that aimed to limit the Crown’s power. The Magna Carta exerted a significant influence on the development of the common law in England and subsequently in the United States. Richard Helmholz will explain the emergence of the Magna Carta, describe its substance, and discuss...

The Federal Reserve’s “stress tests” were intended to make the financial system safer. Using risk modeling, the tests subject banks to various stress scenarios in the economy to see how well they would perform and determine the capital “buffer” banks need to remain solvent and safely weather poor economic conditions. But with the Fed relying on risk modeling to determine regulatory capital require...

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the United States and around the world, medical treatment has traditionally been segregated along state lines. Recently, new technology has made the provision of medical care online (telemedicine) a possibility, and consumers could benefit greatly from this development. However, state and national regulations often interfere with online medical care when it crosses borders. Can these regulation...