Cato Podcast

What do South Korea and the U.S. want from each other? Cato's Doug Bandow and Eric Gomez explain. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There are many competing theories that purport to explain the dramatic and sustained increase in wealth and well-being for humans these last two centuries. Cato’s Deirdre McCloskey discusses why she believes liberty is the secret sauce of growing prosperity. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What stands in the way of people having quick residential access to most of life's amenities? How should that be balanced against the desire for many Americans who love suburbia? Cato's Marc Joffe discusses the dream of the "15-minute city." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're unfortunately used to going to war overseas for dubious purposes, but what about a war with a next-door neighbor over fentanyl? Justin Logan details the proposals now in Congress. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You should be able to access a court to challenge an administrative agency seeking to prevent you from taking a matter to court. So says the Supreme Court. What does it mean for future litigation? Cato’s Tommy Berry and Will Yeatman of the Pacific Legal Foundation comment. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

President Biden's Council of Economic Advisors have for the first time produced a report with a special chapter on "digital assets," and their skepticism toward cryptocurrencies is worth noting. Jack Solowey explains why. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Putting the brakes on federal spending and debt will require Congressional will and a plan to minimize political fallout. William Glass of the Millennial Debt Foundation and Cato's Romina Boccia discuss how to make it happen. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Fox News has settled with Dominion Voting Systems for $787.5 million dollars over election-related libel claims. What does or should that mean for efforts to change libel laws in the United States? Walter Olson explains. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Politicians on both sides of the aisle often get carried away with designing new or expanded tax programs without considering what is already in the tax code. Adam Michel details how to make it simpler. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The IRS possesses "the power to destroy" and a mindset focused heavily on enforcement, but the agency is a mess in serious need of reform. Cato adjunct scholar Joe Bishop-Henchman details how it should be done. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A young member of the National Guard somehow accessed classified military plans relating to Ukraine and shared them with friends on social media. What are the implications for security, military intelligence, and the broader problems relating to classified documents? What are the key similarities and differences between this and other intelligence leaks? Cato’s Patrick Eddington and Eric Gomez explain. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What threat does copyright law pose to new generative AI technology? Writer Tim Lee comments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Pandemic-driven rules governing the prescribing of certain drugs are due to expire. Cato's Jeff Singer explains why government intrusions into the practice of medicine leaves patients hurting. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

State legislatures and Congress hope to create new rules to protect young people online, but those proposals come with their own costs and risks to privacy for young people. Jennifer Huddleston discusses her new paper analyzing the proposals. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The federal impositions that would be enabled by central bank digital currency (CBDC) are hard to overstate. A new poll from the Cato Institute indicates that the more Americans know about it, the less they like it. Cato’s Emily Ekins describes what the poll tells us.Related Study: Central Bank Digital Currency: Assessing the Risks and Dispelling the Myths Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As Ireland ponders cannabis legalization, Paul Meany suggests that the debate is an opportunity to more clearly establish that individuals are morally entitled to make these kinds of decisions for themselves. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

War in Ukraine has supposedly brought China and Russia closer together. Facts on the ground make that narrative less compelling. Eric Gomez comments on the recent meeting between Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Federal agencies are already swimming in classified documents, and most of that secrecy is unwarranted. The problem promises to get worse. Patrick Eddington detail the scope of the problem and how it ought to be addressed. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Central bank digital currencies are still not widely understood, but that's not stopping governments from moving ahead with the new technology. Nick Anthony is coauthor of a new Cato Institute paper exposing some of the myths and risks of CBDCs. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Presidents are known to make rosy assumptions when they propose budgets to Congress. How realistic are they? Cato's Adam Michel comments on the recent White House budget proposal. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When are your words of mere encouragement to a friend criminal under federal law? Tommy Berry details a case that holds serious implications for freedom of speech. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Congressional anger at the popular app TikTok could be better aimed at making Americans' data more secure from snoopers and hostile foreign governments. Cato's Jennifer Huddleston and Will Duffield discuss the recent Congressional hearing on TikTok. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Congress wants to promote transparency in public schooling, but its means are dubious. Neal McCluskey discusses the House-passed "parents bill of rights." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Securities and Exchange Commission leadership seems to believe that some big changes to how trades get executed will better protect retail traders. Jennifer Schulp says it's not clear retail traders are currently poorly served. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Getting certain members of Congress to sign off on big ticket legislation sometimes means cutting some deals that mitigate the impact of your bigger goals. In the case of electric vehicle subsidies, Scott Lincicome says the negative impacts are typical for industrial policy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In Shielded: How the Police Became Untouchable, author Joanna Schwartz details the myriad ways police have been immunized or otherwise protected from the consequences of violating Americans' rights. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When policymakers pursue “equality,” which equality should they pursue? Deirdre McCloskey believes neither "equality of outcome" nor "equality of opportunity" is a great option. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Psychedelics show enormous promise in the treatment of PTSD and depression. Those treatments are largely unavailable domestically to veterans and others who might be helped. Call it a casualty of the War on Drugs. Jesse Gould runs the Heroic Hearts Project to help overcome those hurdles for veterans who might benefit from psychedelic treatment. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How does immigration affect the public treasury? In most scenarios, that effect is positive. Alex Nowrasteh is coauthor of the new paper, "The Fiscal Impact of Immigration in the United States." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What are the big takeaways from the insights of the long career of Austrian economist Israel Kirzner? Economist Peter Boettke has some ideas. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It took 30 years and one dedicated young man to get New York to throw out its ban on pinball. Pinball: The Man Who Saved the Game tells the story of Roger Sharpe, a journalist at GQ and a pinball aficionado. Austin and Meredith Bragg are the film's directors. The film is in theaters and available for streaming today. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Fears of artificial intelligence have been goosed recently with the emergence of services like ChatGPT that can deliver longform coherent text addressing fairly specific prompts. Cato's Will Duffield says many of the fears it has inspired are unfounded. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Shareholders are getting hosed by the failure of Silicon Valley Bank, but depositors ought to be more on the hook for losses than, say, depositors at other banks. Norbert Michel discusses the bad precedent set by the FDIC. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In his new book, Shelter from the Storm, Cato's Mark Calabria details his time as head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency during one of the most turbulent times for housing finance. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nigeria's experience with central bank digital currencies should give pause to advocates for the privacy killing monetary innovation. Cato's Nick Anthony comments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Police killed Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky three years ago. The warrants that led to her death remain a black eye for the judicial branch there. Julie Kaelin is a circuit judge in Louisville who has tried to reform warrant approval in Kentucky. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Cato Institute has filed a brief in the Supreme Court case of Tyler v. Hennepin County. Tommy Berry details the argument against the government's taking of Ms. Tyler's home and all the equity it contains. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ron Shultis of the Beacon Center in Tennessee details some of the local costs that certificate of need laws can impose on health care consumers. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

New Hampshire governor Chris Sununu (R) discusses devolving the regulatory state, police accountability, and U.S. support in the war in Ukraine. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The 1619 Project has been converted to a television production on Hulu. Cato's Paul Meany takes a look at a few of the more controversial claims. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Americans aren't having as many kids these days. It reflects a global trend, and the consequences of the slowdown may be dire. Still, it's not clear that policy has any especially respectful solutions to address it. Writer Tim Carney (a father of six) discusses what to do – in policy and in the culture – about the "baby bust." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In January, Florida governor Ron DeSantis announced an end to AP classes in African American history in state schools. Historian David Beito details why that history matters, what's missing in common treatments of African American history, and why choice in education is as important as ever. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

At least some of the modern fights over health care can be traced back to divvying up the healthcare marketplace in statute. Jeff Singer discusses the problems inherent in pervasive scope of practice regulation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The new skepticism toward globalization has a bipartisan zeal with new concerns about the environment and national security thrown in. Johan Norberg explains why these new attacks are no smarter than the old ones. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Much will be lost when platforms are compelled to collect our personal details in the name of protecting children online. Author Jeff Kosseff comments on the new push to force platforms to identify every user. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When should victims of blatant proseutorial abuse be able to sue? Ben Field of the Institute for Justice details a troubling case of prosecutorial immunity. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If you state made jaywalking a felony, should that necessarily mean you should never be able to own a firearm again? Clark Neily details the practical debate over gun rights now brewing in federal court and says the implications for the average American are substantial. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A Minnesota police officer may avoid accountability for criminally sending some teenagers to federal prison for two years because she's a deputized federal agent. Patrick Jaicomo of the Institute for Justice represents one of the teenagers. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Congress and the President regularly have big spending plans, and too often they agree on them. The rapid rise in debt issued by the federal government is clearly unsustainable, so what would serious reform look like? Romina Boccia explains. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Is there more to the story of Ticketmaster's handling of Taylor Swift tickets beyond mere supply and demand? Jennifer Huddleston discusses why Congress and federal regulators are looking more closely. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.