Cato Podcast

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.

Stoicism is built to deliver mental clarity in difficult times. Ryan Holiday is author of Lives of the Stoics: The Art of Living from Zeno to Marcus Aurelius. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Electoral College is still poorly understood. Emily Conrad demystifies the institution in her new book, The Faithless?: The Untold Story of the Electoral College.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The lame duck Trump team appears to be working to stymie the Biden foreign policy agenda. John Glaser explains how. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Four years ago, Anthony Comegna argued that President John Tyler offered the greatest parallel to Donald Trump's presidency. As the Trump Administration winds down, Comegna argues that the parallels are as strong as ever. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Governments have roles to play in a pandemic. But the roles that governments choose to play often turn out to fail or make matters worse. Tom Firey details his new Cato paper. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How did Supreme Court justices receive the new case against Obamacare? Ilya Shapiro and Michael Cannon discuss the oral argument. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Qualified immunity, the court invented doctrine that protects public officials from civil liability even in cases of egregious conduct, took a small hit at the Supreme Court recently. Jay Schweikert explains what it might mean long term. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Do we really know anything more about voters than we did before Election Day this year? Why were polls again so bad at clearly predicting results? Emily Ekins explains. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The housecleaning at the top ranks of the Pentagon could have concerning implications, but it’s perhaps good news that we still don’t seem to know exactly why it happened. John Glaser and Eric Gomez comment. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Pfizer is among the leaders in the development of a vaccine or COVID-19, but it did so without subsidy from the U.S. government. Terence Kealey describes why that matters. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Partisan alignment over trade has become scrambled in the Trump years. Does a Biden Administration hold promise for enhancing free trade? Simon Lester and Dan Ikenson offer their assessments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The news of this election and who controls what levers of federal power is a mixed bag, but divided government might be one bright spot for libertarians. Political strategist Liz Mair makes her case. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In close races, any Libertarian candidate attracting enough votes can get tagged as a "spoiler." It's not clear that's what happened in 2020's race for the White House. David Boaz explains. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Should the Postal Service hold your bank accounts? Should the Postal Service extend credit to Americans? You’ll be hearing more about this ideas soon enough. Diego Zuluaga explains the flaws in postal banking. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Voters in various states chose to legalize drugs, nullify labor regulations, and turn away tax hikes at the ballot box. Walter Olson details some of the initiatives on state ballots in 2020. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The race for the White House is very close. What would this fight look like in courts? Ilya Shapiro comments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Some people claim the Electoral College, the method by which Americans choose a President, has racist origins, that it protects rural states at the expense of big cities, and that the institution should be replaced by a national popular vote. John Samples discusses the claims. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What is the substance of the antitrust case against Google? Geoffrey Manne of the International Center for Law & Economics evaluates the claims. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The answers Joe Biden and Kamala Harris gave to a longstanding survey on executive power are less than promising for separation of powers. Gene Healy explains. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Whether you like it or not, Donald Trump has has broad success at limiting immigration flows into the United States. In doing so, economic costs are likely to follow. David Bier comments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The killing of a schoolteacher in France over the display of images of Muhammad has inspired outrage, but France's official response to it may ultimately fail to achieve its goal. Mustafa Akyol comments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Has France reacted appropriately to attacks that included the beheading of a schoolteacher over a kind of blasphemy? What are the implications for free expression there? Flemming Rose comments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Data from Texas shows that illegal immigrants tend to commit crimes at lower rates than native-born Americans. Alex Nowrasteh explains why puncturing the myth of immigrant crime is so important. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The assumptions underlying Biden campaign's tax and spending plans give us a false picture of what those policies would mean for the economy. Chris Edwards explains why. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What does it mean for politicians to follow the science when scientists disagree and the policy outcomes might give us unintended consequences? Jeff Singer comments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Regular folks don't have access to a vast array of investments, and that's because of Securities and Exchange Commission rules. Why is that? Jennifer Schulp explains. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Helicopter money – money dropped on various recipients by the Federal Reserve with no expectation of repayment – sounds like a great way to lever-up the economy. Is it? George Selgin details his new Pandemics and Policy essay. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A podcast aims to detail the changes brought by gentrification to one school and leaves many critical questions unasked. Robert Pondiscio of the Fordham Foundation offers his thoughts. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A looming Department of Homeland Security rule would require collection of biometric information on not just immigrants, but related Americans. Patrick Eddington and Matthew Feeney say the rule has massive civil liberties implications. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Conspiratorial thinking has a long history in American politics. And yet, it’s tempting to think about our current moment as a golden age of conspiratorial thinking. Jesse Walker of Reason magazine traces the history. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Countries across the globe are working toward the development of a COVID-19 vaccine. How might the late protectionism of the United States affect that effort? Scott Lincicome comments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What can we infer from the new weaponry unveiled by North Korea? Eric Gomez and Doug Bandow describe how the U.S., South Korea, and China ought to respond. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As she endures questions in the Senate, there isn't much we can say with confidence about Amy Coney Barrett's general view of the legitimacy of the administrative state. Will Yeatman comments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The United States seems unprepared for a wide variety of ways in which elections might be disrupted. One saving grace, says Brandon Valeriano, is the distributed nature of American elections. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The judicial doctrine known as qualified immunity is being misrepresented by law enforcement advocates. The only remaining question is whether those advocates understand the doctrine at all. Jay Schweikert details the errors. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When should you be able to play a decisive role in your own medical treatment? Pretty much all the time, according to Cato's Jeff Singer. He argues that the FDA should get out of the way of those who want to make decisions about their own treatments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Some comments by Justice Clarence Thomas made in an opinion earlier this week appear to some to indicate a desire to overturn the Obergefell decision that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide. Walter Olson discusses the fear and its basis. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.