Cato Podcast

The housing crisis is actually myriad local crises. Combating that will, at some point, require some local ingenuity.  Greg Brooks  of the Better Cities Project has a few ideas to help generate the will to build more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

States are under more serious constraints than the feds when it comes to spending levels. There are still more steps governments can take to do so.  Vance Ginn  with the Pelican Institute details some of the ways states can get more control over budgets. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's worth knowing just how costly it is to effectively give the loudest voices at a zoning board meeting the power of the veto.  Chris Denson  of the Georgia Public Policy Foundation discusses the tax NIMBYs impose on the rest of us. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Misconceptions about the motivations of drug dealers and users have likely worsened the increases in drug overdoses. Are state lawmakers rethinking how they approach drug-related sentencing?  Lauren Krisai  of the Justice Action Network comments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The people who write the rules under which we must live generally ought to be subject to accountability from voters. That's not a controversial proposition, but how it works in practice is more complicated. Daniel Dew of the Pacific Legal Foundation comments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The ability for the U.S. to escape the consequences of high spending and massive debt may be declining faster than conventional wisdom would have predicted. Cato's Norbert Michel and Romina Boccia detail the issue. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

So many well-intentioned laws run into basic incentive problems. The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act appears to be another law aimed at protecting many women from mistreatment that may create perverse incentives. Vanessa Brown Calder comments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

New tech threatens the ability for investors to understand what they're doing, or so the leaders of the SEC seem to believe. But what would their proposed federal regulations do to change that? Jack Solowey and Jennifer Schulp comment. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The U.S. House is without a Speaker after a small revolt within the Republican Party that removed Kevin McCarthy from that job. With yet another fight over spending just a few weeks away, Cato’s John Samples and Chad Davis explore what might be coming next. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When politicians decry the production that's done overseas, it's a good time to take stock of a most basic economic concept: comparative advantage. Don Boudreaux discusses what it means. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Biden White House has urged states to slow the pace of trimming Medicaid enrollees. Why? Rea Hederman of the Buckeye Institute comments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why does the Office of Management and Budget want to expand racial categories in the United States? Alex Nowrasteh discusses his new paper that explains why  such an expansion is a bad idea . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

California Governor Gavin Newsom is mulling legislation that would legalize possession of small amounts of multiple psychedelic drugs. Cato's Jeff Singer discusses the implications for medical practitioners. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The emergency spending that's come to characterize an increasing share of federal outlays has contributed mightily to current fiscal woes. Jonathan Bydlak of the R Street Institute comments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Donald Trump might prefer to leave Congress out of the loop on decisions about which nations or actors receive U.S. weapons. A new Heritage Foundation report also leans toward giving POTUS fewer checks on foreign policy moves. Jordan Cohen comments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Supreme Court long ago erred in gutting a key provision of the 14th Amendment. Anastasia Boden says a case the court could take up this term gives them an opportunity to repair that mistake. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Seeking fresh weaponry for his war in Ukraine, Russia's Vladimir Putin met with North Korea's Kim Jong Un recently. Eric Gomez discusses the geopolitical considerations. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What does the United States get in terms of security enhancement given its informal, but pricey financial commitment to Saudi Arabia? President Biden is advancing a plan that would formalize security guarantees to Saudi Arabia. Cato's Jon Hoffman comments. Pariah or Partner: Reevaluating the U.S.-Saudi Relationship Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

School choice is on the march so it's reasonable to ask if the shift toward relatively more students receiving private school educations will raise prices at those schools? Cato adjunct Jason Bedrick comments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The President's son, Hunter Biden, now faces charges related to his drug use and gun ownership. It illustrates, as Clark Neily details, the enormous discretion wielded by prosecutors. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

" Parole sponsorship " allows individuals in the U.S. to sponsor people fleeing unstable or authoritarian regimes. The Biden administration has reinvigorated the program for people from a handful of countries. David Bier says it delivers great benefits. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What happens when public university officials violate your free speech rights? Often the get qualified immunity, thus shielding them from consequences of those actions. Casey Mattox with Americans for Prosperity comments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Policy change can be a long slog. The now-famous "Overton Window" gives us a way of thinking about how change happens. Joe Lehmann of the Mackinac Center discusses how the late Joe Overton thought about policy change. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Globalization's opponents are loathe to admit that the process of expanding the movement of goods, services, and people relatively freely across borders has paid enormous dividends for a very long time. Scott Lincicome explains why free trade and migration deserves a vigorous defense . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

States and localities, grimly unaware of the predictable consequences of prohibition, are moving ahead with plans to make cigarettes and other nicotine products a matter of criminal law. Jacob Grier is author of The New Prohibition . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.