Cato Podcast

The FDA's rejection of MDMA as a treatment may well be a short-term setback for legally helping people with PTSD and other disorders.  Mason Marks  of Harvard Law School’s Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy offers his assessment. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After months of protest, counterprotest, and administrative overreaction over the last school year, the protection of free speech on college campuses seems less certain than ever.  Angela Erickson  of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression discusses their new  College Free Speech Rankings . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In  The Islamic Moses , Mustafa Akyol provides a theological and historical exploration of the connection between Islam and Judaism through the single most-mentioned character in the Quran. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What will/should conservatism look like after this election year?  John Hood  of the John William Pope Foundation  comments . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The "degrowth" movement has many adherents, so it's worth emphasizing the manifold benefits of economic growth to the lives of humans across the globe. Justin Callais of the Archbridge Institute explains. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What appears to have started as a judge's request to have critical content removed from X (Twitter) has escalated into the country's highest court banning the service altogether. Cato’s David Inserra discusses how the US should respond. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Getting a handle on the state-level regulatory burdens can identify inexpensive ways for states to step away from useless intervention. Patrick McLaughlin of the Mercatus Center details a  new index  aimed at that task. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Fights over whether states should give parents a broader range of education options don't get much more pointed than public school officials leveraging state resources to advocate against public questions. Jacob Huebert of the Liberty Justice Center details two current cases of that kind of electioneering. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What should we expect from the state-level advance of prescribing psychologists, non-physicians who are able to prescribe certain medications? Jeff Singer says their potential for helping patients is strong. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's still just a wisp of an idea, but Kamala Harris's plan to ban so-called "corporate price gouging" assumes a lot (wrongly) about how grocery stores operate. Scott Lincicome offers his thoughts. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Parents in West Virginia have new education options thanks to the Hope Scholarship. It's also dramatically expanded education entrepreneurship in the state.  Jessi Troyan  of the Cardinal Institute explains what it means for other efforts to broaden the range of choices available to families. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A large child tax credit is among a handful of remarkably similar campaign pledges from the campaigns of Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. Vanessa Brown Calder offers some analysis. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

At  Cato University  earlier this month, journalist  Radley Balko  discussed a range of ways that public sector officials, particularly police and prosecutors, are largely able to escape accountability for misconduct. He offers at least one way to evaluate certain incidents to prevent tragic outcomes for Americans going forward. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more i...

The Federal Reserve, when committed to a policy rule, could enhance its own institutional credibility while giving Congress a means to hold the central bank more accountable. Jai Kedia explains. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

From Tim Walz misunderstanding what the First Amendment protects to European regulators trying to squelch speech on American platforms, the threats to free speech are numerous. David Inserra comments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The US ought to take a step back from the war in Ukraine. Doug Bandow explains why. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Presidential candidates Harris and Trump both seem amenable to special tax benefits for their favored groups of voters, be they tipped workers or recipients of Social Security benefits. Is that good tax policy? Adam Michel explains. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Giving parents a wider variety of choices for their own kids means disrupting existing institutional power. But does enhancing parental choice in education "blow a hole" in state budgets? Cato’s Neal McCluskey evaluates the case of Arizona. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

New polling from the Cato Institute  asks Americans to weigh their preferences for Buy American policies against the very real likelihood that protectionism will hit them in their pocketbooks. Scott Lincicome and Emily Ekins detail the results. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What makes a monopoly depends on who you ask and what’s being monopolized. In the case of Google, it's a narrow focus on one element of its business: search. Jennifer Huddleston details how a court concluded that Google, despite its many competitors, is still a search monopolist. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How have candidates navigated the thorny politics of cryptocurrency? Nicholas Anthony discusses how crypto crept into the 2024 election. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Public support for fostering robust legal immigration has taken a dramatic negative turn. What's likely under a Trump or Harris administration on immigration? David Bier comments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Does a former U.S. Senator from the Bay Area have more than the usual sympathy for tech firms fearing the heavy hand of federal regulators? Cato's Jennifer Huddleston evaluates candidates Trump and Harris on tech policy and regulation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Many states declared states of emergency during the recent pandemic, and those declarations conferred fresh powers to the executive branch. What do those powers do in terms of saving lives? Christian Bjørnskov is coauthor of  State of Emergency: An Economic Analysis . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Project 2025 has effectively become an epithet for many Democrats. The project was aimed at providing the next administration with a roadmap for reform in a wide variety of areas, some more controversial than others. Neal McCluskey offers a couple cheers aimed at the education portion of the document. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.