Cato Podcast

It sounds like a mafia tactic, but "leverage policymaking" is all too real for companies tied up in federal court. Will Yeatman discusses the problem with policymaking without underlying legislation and delivers some promising recent pushback. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The culture war fights that have exploded over decisions as simple as wearing a mask to reduce the spread of the coronavirus could make use of some economic thinking. Cato’s Tom Firey comments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Muslim-majority countries do not have a great reputation when it comes to human freedom. So how are they doing? Mustafa Akyol is author of "Freedom in the Muslim World." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Antidumping duties are "tariffs by fiat" according to Cato's Dan Ikenson, author of the new paper, "Tariffs by Fiat: The Widening Chasm between U.S. Antidumping Policy and the Rule of Law." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What's the proper way to ensure accounting compliance among Chinese companies listed on U.S. stock exchanges? Jennifer Schulp comments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Closing military bases can disrupt economies, but those closures can present opportunities for local economics, as well. Paul Gessing of the Rio Grande Foundation details cases of military base closures in New Mexico. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Will the 2020 election be contested no matter which candidate for the White House wins? J.D. Tuccille of Reason explains why he believes it's a distinct possibility, and why he believes it would harm the legitimacy of celebrated American institutions. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Cato’s Emma Ashford details the more and less complicated politics in the dictatorship of Belarus. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What's the precedent for dissolving a massive national membership organization over accusations of corruption by the leadership? New York's Attorney General is working to dissolve the NRA over those kinds of claims. Walter Olson comments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kamala Harris, now a candidate for Vice President, did some things as a prosecutor that should make people question her fidelity to the law, but that doesn't place her outside the mainstream of prosecutors. Jay Schweikert comments on Harris's background.Related:“Kamala Harris and the Authoritarian Impulse” featuring Elizabeth Nolan Brown and Caleb O. Brown (June 3, 2019)"The Kamala Harris Plan to Address the Gender Pay Gap” featuring Ryan Bourne and Caleb O. Brown (June 1, 2019) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The President's most recent orders adjusting unemployment benefits, student loan payments, and payroll taxes deserve scrutiny for both the manner in which Congress has given away power and Presidential aggrandizement. Gene Healy comments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Is regulating "bias" on internet speech platforms a proper role for Congress? Will Duffield comments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The coronavirus has inspired some widely varying schooling decisions for parents. How do public bureaucracies need to adapt? Neal McCluskey comments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When is your local cop not a local cop? When he's deputized as a federal agent. That can pose problems for state and local police accountability. Simone Weichselbaum of The Marshall Project and Patrick Jaicomo of the Institute for Justice comment. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Is the dollar's status as the world's reserve currency at risk? George Selgin discusses the concern. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Chelsea Follett is author of "Neo‐​Malthusianism and Coercive Population Control in China and India: Overpopulation Concerns Often Result in Coercion." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Would the Joe Biden brand of foreign policy be an improvement? John Glaser evaluates the Biden track record. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Seeking to mitigate risks associated with the coronavirus and the current decision paralysis in many school districts, parents and teachers are opting out in favor of what's being called "pandemic pods." Kerry McDonald discusses how they work. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Every time we embark on a given plan of action, big or small, we make a choice. Whereas many economists model people’s behavior using idealized assumptions, economists of the Austrian School don’t. The Austrian School of Economics takes people as they are and constructs economic theories by examining the logical structure of the choices they make. Steve Horwitz discusses Austrian Economics: An Introduction. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How bad was the last quarter? What are the prospects for a reasonably quick recovery? Jeremy Horrpdahl of the University of Central Arkansas comments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

President Trump fears that a President Biden would "destroy" the suburbs of the United States. How true is that? Nolan Gray of the Mercatus Center discusses the federal role in local housing and zoning decisions. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What do we know about the federal police surges planned for several American cities? There are important distinctions among the agencies tasked with federal police action in American cities. Patrick Eddington and Walter Olson comment. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What are the risks of Chinese espionage in the United States? Did the U.S. respond appropriately? Brandon Valeriano comments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Trump Administration doesn't care for immigration even apparently if tens of thousands of employers are harmed in the process of putting up immigration hurdles. David Bier comments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Were economists and others wrong about China with respect to trade? Cato's Scott Lincicome is author of "Testing the 'China Shock.’" Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Jones Act, little studied but incredibly costly to Americans, has been on the books for 100 years. A new Cato Institute book, The Case against the Jones Act, takes aim at this destructive protectionist policy. Colin Grabow and Inu Manak are the book's editors. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In many states, law enforcement officers accused of misconduct get special protections from the criminal justice system. Those protections harm efforts to hold police accountable. Cato's Walter Olson explains how it works. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Federal police authority to "protect monuments" has instead delivered a substantial challenge to civil liberties. Patrick Eddington discusses the current federal police action in Portland, Oregon. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Notorious political dirty trickster and federal inmate Roger Stone got a commutation from the President. Was it corrupt? Is the pardon power truly plenary? Gene Healy comments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Notorious political dirty trickster and federal inmate Roger Stone got a commutation from the President. Was it corrupt? Is the pardon power truly plenary? Gene Healy comments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

People concerned about housing costs should look to government at every level for regulations and restrictions that contribute to the high cost of housing. Cato's Scott Lincicome comments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How will schools adapt to an ongoing viral pandemic? What flexibility should parents be given to make different choices? Cato's Jeff Singer and Neal McCluskey comment. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The pendulum of U.S. engagement with China is swinging back to confrontation. What's a better path forward? Eric Gomez and John Glaser comment. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

McGirt v. Oklahoma may shift a great deal of how we think about "Indian Country" in the U.S. Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch's opinion in the case was a big win for Native American interests. Walter Olson comments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If universities go online-only in the Fall, many international students will have to leave the country. It’s all thanks to a directive from the Trump White House. Alex Nowrasteh explains why this could be a costly mistake. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Supreme Court vigorously agrees that states may fine or otherwise punish Electoral College electors who "go rogue." The court added that there are limits to the restrictions. Walter Olson comments on the context and history of the decision. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If claims of Russian-paid bounties on U.S. soldiers turn out to be true, an obvious response should be to exit our decades-long failed war in Afghanistan. Cato's John Glaser makes the case. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It wasn't one of the blockbuster Supreme Court cases of the term, but it will shape how power is vested in federal agencies. Cato's Diego Zuluaga and Will Yeatman comment on Seila Law v. CFPB. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Congress has yet to make clear changes of policy with respect to police brutality, but Colorado has moved in a big way. Leslie Herod is a Democratic state representative in Colorado. Her proposals to reform use of force and liability for police officers is now law in Colorado. She describes how states can replicate Colorado’s efforts to hold police accountable to the public. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The owner of the New England Patriots is pushing a strong defense against solicitation charges filed against him, and what first looked like a big win for prosecutors against a high-profile defendant is now looking more like a major headache. Elizabeth Nolan Brown of Reason says that the Robert Kraft case should highlight what happens to people charged with victimless crimes who don’t happen to be fabulously wealthy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Paycheck Protection Program was meant to help firms maintain payrolls during economic disruption caused by the coronavirus. How has it worked out? Diego Zuluaga comments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Supreme Court has dealt a blow to private school choice programs that exclude parents who would send their children to religious school. Cato's Ilya Shapiro, director of the Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies, and Neal McCluskey, director of the Center for Educational Freedom, comment. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Among the challenges that might face a Biden Administration, restoring trading relationships should probably be high on the list. Simon Lester comments on where a President Biden might land on the freedom to trade. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What have been the effects of COVID-19 on the housing and mortgage markets? Will Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac continue to move toward exiting conservatorship? Mark Calabria directs the Federal Housing Finance Agency. We discussed mortgages and changes in the housing landscape driven by a global pandemic. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In April and May, states embarked on what now appear to be ambitious plans to reopen thanks to a resurgence of COVID-19 cases. Jeff Singer discusses the mistaken search for a single answer to a complicated problem. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Economist Bruce Yandle suggests that for the last several months, the U.S. has largely been a command economy. That's thanks largely to the coronavirus and the subsequent government interventions. He discusses recent economic data and some of its quirks. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Supreme Court has ended one tactic by the Trump White House to end Obama-era protections for some immigrants. A new proclamation from the President aims to broadly suspend many more workers from coming to the U.S. Alex Nowrasteh comments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Federal agencies charged with the management of, creation of, and dissemination of knowledge have performed poorly in this pandemic. Does it have to be this way? Peter Van Doren, editor of Regulation, comments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Reporters who want to clearly detail the level of police professionalism to the public must first contend with the linguistic flourishes present in police reports. Radley Balko of The Washington Post calls it "the exonerative tense." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Joe Biden might pick Senator Kamala Harris as his runningmate, the President issues an executive order on policing, and we should all remember, according to Cato's Trevor Burrus, that the Drug War broke policing. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.