Cato Event Podcast

Featuring Maia Szalavitz (@maiasz), Award-Winning Neuroscience Journalist; and Author of Unbroken Brain: A Revolutionary New Way of Understanding Addiction; Leana S. Wen, MD, MSc, (@DrLeanaWen) Visiting Professor of Health Policy and Management, Milken Institute School of Public Health, George Washington University; and Distinguished Fellow, Fitzhugh Mullan Institute for Health Workforce Equity; moderated by Jeffrey A. Singer, MD, Senior Fellow, Cato Institute.Related Content: Americans Have Always Politicized Public Health Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic cost tens of thousands of lives and capsized the U.S. economy, relations between Beijing and Washington were heading south. Tougher domestic repression, greater aggressiveness toward Hong Kong, enhanced pressure on Taiwan, and increased assertiveness in Asia-Pacific waters have unsettled American policymakers and allied nations in East Asia.China’s poor response to the COVID-19 virus, especially the regime’s lack of transparency and punishment of doctors and journalists warning about the pandemic, inflamed political and public sentiment against Beijing.Now the Trump administration appears determined to turn China’s poor response into a campaign issue. Joe Biden’s campaign has responded in kind. Republican legislators are even pushing to “make China pay,” proposing to strip Beijing of sovereign immunity to lawsuits and repudiate U.S. Treasury debt held by China. The result could be a race to the bottom in relations. Even the trade deal, which the administration celebrated in mid-January as the virus began spreading, is now at risk.Can the bilateral relationship survive the coming presidential campaign? More broadly, where should the relationship go? Is Beijing’s authoritarian direction likely permanent, or is a reversal of policy possible in Beijing once Xi Jinping no longer rules? Should the United States shift to a policy of containment and seek to isolate China by severing economic ties and emphasizing military responses? How would Washington’s East Asian allies, economically dependent on China, respond to such an approach?Related Content: Congress and COVID-19: Is Remote Legislating and Oversight Possible? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) is due to go into force on July 1, 2020, but much work remains to prepare for the transition from the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) rules. In all likelihood, both agreements will operate in parallel until important details are ironed out. Most pressing among these are new rules for automobile manufacturing in North America, where the requirements have become more stringent. Mexico will also have to deal with a potential surge of labor disputes as the new labor chapter goes into effect. Compounding all of this is the COVID-19 pandemic, which has disrupted supply chains and weakened trading relationships around the world. Can the USMCA be successfully implemented this year, and can North America move forward from the pandemic stronger than before?Related Content: Dispute Settlement and the US-UK Trade Agreement: Lessons from the NAFTA Renegotiation Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As the United States shifts the focus of its foreign and defense policies toward great-power competition, experts have paid more attention to Russian and Chinese nuclear force postures and strategies. The 2018 Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) paints a concerning picture of recent developments in both potential adversaries, noting the growth of arsenals and approaches to nuclear strategy that vex U.S. policymakers. The assessments and threat perceptions laid out in the NPR will drive U.S. nuclear strategy for the rest of the Trump administration and potentially beyond because they inform plans for U.S. nuclear modernization.In the two years since the 2018 NPR's release, the Trump administration has put its stamp on America's approach to nuclear deterrence. The administration is clearly worried about the nuclear arsenals and strategies of Russia and China, and many of the NPR's more controversial items, such as the low-yield Trident warhead, are explicitly tied to nuclear developments in potential great-power adversaries.But has the United States accurately diagnosed the most important problems posed by other great powers? Is Washington designing the right solutions to these problems? What are the risks of misdiagnoses and/or wrong policy solutions? The COVID-19 pandemic has made finding answers to these questions all the more urgent. The economic fallout of the public health emergency will likely create strong budgetary pressures and subject the multidecade, $1 trillion–plus nuclear modernization plan to closer scrutiny. Join us as we explore these questions and more. Related Content: Using the Kosovo Precedent in Syria: Damaging US Relations with China and Russia Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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

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

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

Featuring Randy Barnett, Carmack Waterhouse Professor of Legal Theory, Georgetown University Law Center; and Senior Fellow, Cato Institute; and Ilya Shapiro, Director, Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies, Cato Institute.Related Content: Coronavirus and the Constitution Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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

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

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

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

Featuring Daniel Schuman, Policy Director, Demand Progress; Liz Hempowicz, Director of Public Policy, Project on Government Oversight; Corinna Turbes, Policy Manager, Data Coalition; moderated by Patrick Eddington, Research Fellow, Cato Institute.Related Content: Congress' Stimulus Oversight Imperative Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Featuring Eugene Gholz, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Notre Dame; Adjunct Scholar, Cato Institute; and Rose McDermott, David and Marianna Fisher University Professor of International Relations, Brown University; moderated by Christopher Preble, Vice President for Defense and Foreign Policy Studies, Cato Institute.Related: Cato's Project on Threat Inflation Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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

Marijuana Federalism: Uncle Sam and Mary Jane explores the legal and policy issues presented by the conflict between federal and state marijuana laws, ranging from constitutional questions about the scope and nature of federal power to questions of enforcement discretion and state‐​level regulation. While the nation’s federalist structure presents complications when federal and state preferences conflict, it could also provide the foundation for more sensible drug policy in the 21st century. Please join us for a discussion of this new book, featuring its editor and one of its contributors.Event ResourcesA Serious Hearing on Marijuana Prohibition Was Overdue, by Trevor BurrusIt is Time for a Cannabis Opportunity Agenda, by Makada Henry‐​Nickie and John HudakThe Case for Allowing Interstate Trade Among Marijuana‐​Legal States, by Ilya ShapiroHigh on Federalism: Marijuana’s Challenge to Federal‐​State Relations, by Ilya Shapiro and Matthew Larosiere Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

In War on Us: How the War on Drugs and Myths about Addiction Have Created a War on All of Us, author Colleen Cowles provides a comprehensive, evidence‐​based examination of the war on drugs and all its victims, clarifies common misconceptions of drug use and addiction, and offers a blueprint for reform. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Cato’s one and only David Boaz, executive vice president and author of The Libertarian Mind, will explain “Why I’m Optimistic about Freedom and Progress.” Having been with Cato for nearly all its 40‐​year history, David has seen the ideas of classical liberalism infused into the mainstream discourse and will provide reasons to be optimistic about a more libertarian future. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Supreme Court is now part of the same toxic cloud that has enveloped the nation’s public discourse. Given the battles we saw over Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch, and the largely party‐​line votes on most circuit‐​court nominees, too many people now think of the justices in partisan terms. That’s unfortunate, but it’s not a surprise when contrasting interpretive theories now largely track identification with parties that are more ideologically sorted than ever. Is there anything we can do to fix this dynamic? What does it mean for the future of constitutional protection for individual liberty? Ilya Shapiro will discuss the “New Supreme Court and the Future of Judicial Nominations.” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 included a requirement that Medicare-participating providers use electronic health records by January 1, 2014, or face financial penalties. Passed and signed into law just four weeks after the inauguration of President Obama, this expensive requirement, which had almost no public debate, forced hospitals, doctors, and clinics to move confidential patient information into digital format.Twila Brase, author of the 2018 book Big Brother in the Exam Room: The Dangerous Truth about Electronic Health Records, says the electronic health record (EHR) is not what patients think it is. It interferes with patient care, is being used to violate patient rights, it makes sensitive data vulnerable to hackers, and it is threatening patient safety and medical excellence. She claims that what the government calls privacy rules are actually data-sharing rules. Furthermore, standardized treatment protocols and burdensome data-entry requirements are causing physician burnout and physician exodus from the practice of medicine. Government-mandated EHRs are an untested experiment that gives government and other self-interested parties outside the exam room significant control over private medical decisions. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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

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

Almost 50 years after his death, the legacy of FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover remains very much alive, according to 16-year FBI veteran Michael German in his new book, Disrupt, Discredit, and Divide: How the New FBI Damages Democracy. Just as Hoover exploited fears of communist infiltration of American institutions, his successors at the FBI in the post-9/11 era have exploited fears of Salafist terrorism to “shed the legal constraints” imposed on the bureau in the wake of Hoover-era civil rights abuses. Does Congress have the will to rein in the FBI? How should political activists respond to these increased threats to their constitutional rights?Join us as an expert panel talks with German about his book on FBI domestic surveillance and disruption activities in the era of endless war. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Reforming the immigration visa system is crucial for the future of the United States. In late 2019, Rep. John Curtis (R‑UT), supported by Gov. Gary Herbert, introduced a bill to create a state‐​based visa system. Curtis’s proposal adopts a major component of the Canadian immigration system: visas sponsored by individual states rather than the federal government. Under the legislation, the federal government maintains control over admissions, security checks, and other necessary criteria, while the state governments gain power to select individual migrants and regulate their activity within the state. Each state would get an average of 10,000 visas a year: 5,000 guaranteed for each state and an additional number assigned based on population.With the partisan gridlock that has characterized Washington politics for at least the past two decades, can and should states lead the way on immigration by utilizing a state‐​based visa system? Join the Cato Institute’s Alex Nowrasteh for a panel discussion with Representative Curtis and Governor Herbert for a policy deep dive on how state‐​based visas can reform our nation’s broken immigration system. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.