Cato Podcast

Joe Biden's pick for Secretary of Education will face pressure for the department to hand down "guidance" to tell schools when and how to open or close as the pandemic continues. Neal McCluskey explains why the feds need to stay out of it. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How has the Citizens United decision changed the competitiveness of politics? Do voters have a basically fair understanding of how campaign spending functions? David M. Primo and Jeffrey D. Milyo are authors of Campaign Finance and American Democracy: What the Public Really Thinks and Why It Matters . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Despite the backlash against openness in much of the world, Johan Norberg says it's a source of strength. His new book is Open: The Story of Human Progress . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Joe Biden has no reason to back away from his ambitious immigration reform plans. David Bier explains why. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It wasn't a big piece of the presidential campaign, but since the election, proposals to bail out student loan borrowers have become dramatically more ambitious. Neal McCluskey explains the folly of more freebies for the well-off. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Immigrants make up a valuable group of voters in American elections. How did they vote in 2016 and 2020? Alex Nowrasteh explains. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Cannabis descheduling at the federal level had a brief moment this year, but ultimately it didn’t happen. What does next year hold for continuing the trend toward decriminalizing or legalizing cannabis? Trevor Burrus explains. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Understanding the role of Jesus in Islam may be a key to expanding mutual religious toleration. Mustafa Akyol explains why. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Religious persecution around the globe continues. How would a Biden Administration differ in foreign policy relating to religion? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Federal Reserve's expansion into credit allocation during the COVID-19 pandemic will be difficult to roll back. Jim Dorn comments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What new government programs would be justified in pursuit of a target of "full employment" in the economy? Ryan Bourne discusses what the Biden economic team might be planning. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The devastation and expense of the attack on customers of SolarWinds, including many secretive government agencies, won't be known for some time. Julian Sanchez details some of what we know now. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Team Trump pulled out of the Iran Nuclear Deal, and that appears to have placed Iran closer to achieving nuclear weapons. John Glaser discusses what it would mean for the U.S. to try to revive the deal in a Biden Administration. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What's the libertarian answer to distributing a vaccine against a deadly disease when supply is so low relative to the demand? Michael Cannon makes his case. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Was Facebook's purchase of Instagram and other properties evidence of monopolistic practices? Will Duffield and Ryan Bourne are skeptical. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lloyd Austin is Joe Biden's pick to head the Defense Department? Why does he need a waiver to serve. Eric Gomez explains. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Electoral College has cast its votes for President. It should come as no surprise that Joe Biden won. Cato Chairman Robert A. Levy details the current process and the hurdles to changing it for future elections. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Will a Biden Administration bring us nothing more than an undoing of the executive actions of the Trump team? That's an unlikely outcome, according to Gene Healy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There exists a tension among educational freedom advocates between the broad freedom for parents to make meaningful choices about the educations their children receive and guarantees of equity and quality. Jason Bedrick explains why the policy choice between freedom and equity is often a false one. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kevin D. Williamson is author of  Big White Ghetto: Dead Broke, Stone-Cold Stupid, and High on Rage in the Dank Woolly Wilds of the "Real America" . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Textiles are everywhere, and before the Industrial Revolution, even tiny advances in textile development had massive ripple effects. Virginia Postrel traces this amazing history in The Fabric of Civilization: How Textiles Made the World . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Judicial confirmations are a partisan affair, and that's hard to square with what we expect from judges. Ilya Shapiro elucidates the confirmation process in Supreme Disorder: Judicial Nominations and the Politics of America's Highest Court . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How did the U.S. go from skepticism of foreign entanglements to setting the stage for its role as a dominant global power? Stephen Wertheim explains in Tomorrow, the World: The Birth of U.S. Global Supremacy . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Was the Constitution an anti-slavery document or a “covenant with death”? Damon Root explores the struggle through the eyes of Frederick Douglass in his new book, A Glorious Liberty: Frederick Douglass and the Fight for an Antislavery Constitution . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.