Cato Podcast

Is it too rich to hear former Vice President Cheney complain about the Trump foreign policy? Was the Pentagon really caught unawares by the President's decree that the U.S. leave Syria? Jim Antle is editor of The American Conservative magazine. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How much do we know about the ratio between foreign-born and American-born terrorist threats? Does it matter? Patrick Eddington comments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Online political speech is often dramatically different from the speech presented via terrestrial broadcasting. That difference is critical to protecting speech in the face of one-size-fits-all regulatory regimes. Attorney Allen Dickerson with the Institute for Free Speech comments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Legislation is now on the table to end the Jones Act. Colin Grabow discusses its likely prospects. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A big Supreme Court case has fundamentally altered the landscape of sports betting. So what comes next? Patrick Moran comments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The 2016 election revealed a great deal about how rural America functions and how it doesn't. Tim Carney makes a case in Alienated America that there may be ways to bridge growing divisions. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A massive new plan unveiled by Democrats is a wish list of restrictions on free political speech. Luke Wachob of the Institute for Free Speech comments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The police raids on massage parlors in Florida initially promised a blockbuster story of sex trafficking. So far, the story hasn't panned out. Elizabeth Nolan Brown, an associate editor at Reason magazine, explains. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For all the bluster about immigration, the idea that immigrants pose a unique crime problem still doesn't show up in the data. Alex Nowrasteh discusses his new paper. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What grants border patrol agents more invasive powers in a 100-mile wide band around the edges of the United States? Chris Montoya is a former longtime Customs and Border Patrol agent. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A new proposal would expand Medicare to include Americans as young as 50. It's a throw-money-at-it solution to problems largely caused by government intervention in health care, according to Cato’s Michael Cannon. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Will the diplomatic push between the U.S. and North Korea produce more substantive agreement? Will South Korea get on board with the long-held goal of U.S. troops departing the peninsula? Eric Gomez comments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What are all these university administrators doing, exactly? Cato senior fellow Todd Zywicki doesn't know, either. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dignity and productivity are strongly linked, but it's easy to misunderstand. Ryan Bourne comments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On the new CatoAudio, we devote our roundtable to the new lawsuit the Cato Institute has filed against the Securities and Exchange Commission policy of imposing gag orders on settling defendants. Cato's Clark Neily and Bob McNamara of IJ comment. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A dispute among members of the FCC indicates that there is an appetite on the commission for banning e-cigarette ads in the name of the "public interest." Commissioner Brendan Carr says he stands with the First Amendment. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Between the pullback of FoxConn's commitments to Wisconsin and Amazon's HQ2 withdrawal from New York, it's worth examining taxpayer-provided incentives for economic development. John Mozena is president of the Center for Economic Accountability. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Massive delegations of authority may strengthen the President's claim of a "national emergency" at the southern border. The facts of the emergency are not on his side. Will Yeatman and Alex Nowrasteh comment. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What should the U.S. do to adjust to China's rise? Tariffs and shattering the global trading system aren't the answer, according to Scott Lincicome. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A proposal to tax wealth runs into Constitutional problems, but how would it work otherwise? Michael Tanner comments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) hinges critically on government having sole dominion over money. George Selgin discusses some of the new and old ideas MMT encapsulates. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Vanguard founder Jack Bogle revolutionized American investing on behalf of the little guy. Diego Zuluaga comments on his passing. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The announced removal of U.S. troops from Syria was a long time coming. So, what now? John Glaser comments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Green New Deal may just be a resolution or a wish list, but the challenges would be massive and the benefits less than clear. Peter Van Doren discusses the initial draft of the Green New Deal. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A new meta-analysis points to the notion that U.S. dietary advice has been fatally flawed for more than four decades. Terence Kealey explains. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A no-deal Brexit could be devastating on a number of fronts. Where do things stand now? Ryan Bourne and Emma Ashford comment. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Is there anything the U.S. should do to support Venezuelans who want to reassert their liberties? Juan Carlos Hidalgo comments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why does life improve in your 50s, 60s, and beyond? Jonathan Rauch makes his case in The Happiness Curve: Why Life Gets Better After 50. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

New data is revealing that the doctor-centered narratives on opioid addiction and overdose are, at best, severely flawed and possibly entirely wrong. Jeffrey A. Singer describes why. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Complaints about higher education in the U.S. are ubiquitous. College costs are up as student debt loads become more unsustainable, while criticisms of the quality of university education mount. Todd Zywicki is co-editor of the forthcoming book, Unprofitable Schooling. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

CBD is a chemical derived from cannabis, and its legal status is still not totally clear. Mike Riggs of Reason details how the drug is being treated by various federal agencies. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After Eric Ferguson was treated for a venomous snake bite, he received a bill including an $80,000 charge for $750 in antivenom. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Government shutdowns don't need to be so disruptive. Chris Edwards argues the key is devolving a great deal of federal control. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A White House compromise plan to change the Delayed Action on Childhood Arrivals program (in exchange for funding for a wall at the border) was hardly a compromise at all. Instead, it would have stripped protection from many “Dreamers." David Bier comments on what a compromise measure ought to look like. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The United States has a long history of involvement in overthrowing governments in the Americas. Is this round of support for opposition leaders in Venezuela different? John Glaser comments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What we still don't know about what former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort told prosecutors is telling. Julian Sanchez comments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The State of the Union is a blustery and vacuous ritual, and it doesn't have to be that way. Nancy Pelosi has offered Donald Trump a great opportunity to mail it in. Gene Healy comments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What makes a 'market failure'? Ryan Bourne is author of the new paper, "How ‘Market Failure’ Arguments Lead to Misguided Policy.” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Gilbert King's Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of a New America details the decades-old wrongful arrest of four young black men on rape charges in Florida and the work of Thurgood Marshall and other attorneys to assert basic Constitutional rights on behalf of the defendants. The last of the Groveland Four died in 2012, but thanks in large part to the book, they have now been officially pardoned. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Do cyber operations among rival states achieve their stated objectives? What are the escalation risks? Brandon Vareriano is co-author of the new Cato paper, "The Myth of the Cyber Offense: The Case for Restraint." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What does the Constitution have to say about national emergencies, both real and imagined? Gene Healy comments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As a pressure valve against our broken immigration system, why not let immigrants pay for the privilege? Alex Nowrasteh makes his case in a new Cato paper. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A new documentary showcased by PBS presents Montana as a success story of campaign finance reform and Wisconsin's John Doe investigations as a failure. Steve Klein of the Pillar of Law Institute details some omissions in the Dark Money documentary. Related podcasts: Wisconsin’s ‘John Doe’ Raids Two Years Later October 2, 2015 “John Doe” Prosecutors Lose Big in Wisconsin October 6, 2016 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The right to self medicate has a long history. It's time Americans rediscovered it. Jessica Flanigan makes her case in the new book Pharmaceutical Freedom: Why Patients Have a Right to Self Medicate. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What makes a government fine excessive? Timbs v. Indiana, now before the U.S. Supreme Court, may provide some important clarification. Sam Gedge is an Institute for Justice attorney representing Tyson Timbs before the high court. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tasting butter is a matter of, well, taste. In Wisconsin, certified butter tasters are a part of the normal regulatory process. Anastasia Boden of the Pacific Legal Foundation is handling an ongoing legal case on behalf of a small butter maker. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

One big cost associated with prescription drugs is going to a doctor for a prescription. Naomi Lopez Bauman of the Goldwater Institute describes one reform that could drive those costs down. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Prescription drug prices continue moving up. What can discipline the process of setting drug prices? Charles Silver is coauthor of the Cato Institute book, Overcharged. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The feds have a poor record of protecting data privacy, but there are moves that states can make to do so. Connor Boyack discusses one such effort in Utah. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why is it so hard to get monetary and fiscal policy right in troubled economic times? Jeffrey Frankel of Harvard's Kennedy School comments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.