Cato Podcast

President Trump has attacked Syria with apparently no support from Congress or other world leaders. Chris Preble comments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Knocking down a scientific hypothesis is easier than knocking down a regulation built upon that hypothesis. Gary Taubes, author of The Case Against Sugar, argues there are big problems in how institutions conduct scientific inquiry today. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Understanding the apparent surge in attempts to shut down speakers on college campuses is an important task. Steve Simpson of the Ayn Rand Institute offers his analysis. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Regulation Magazine celebrates its 40th anniversary this year. The magazine's editor, Peter Van Doren, details some of what we now know thanks to the magazine's continuing run.Related:Regulation at 40, by Peter Van Doren and Thomas A. Firey. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The mindset of the regulator has overtaken so many professions by imposing licensing, but fighting back requires a strategy to re-engage the judiciary. Clark Neily of the Institute for Justice comments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Ecuador could remove President Correa from office. What might that mean for the country? And why are we fighting the same old fights over free trade? Mary Anastasia O'Grady of the Wall Street Journal comments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Defending free speech amid cries of "fake news" from the highest levels of government is a unique challenge. Flemming Rose comments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Supreme Court takes up Lee v. United States today. The Cato Institute filed a brief in the case regarding the right to and rationality of defendants asking for a jury trial. Tim Lynch comments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How should Congress repeal and replace ObamaCare now that the American Health Care Act has failed? Michael Cannon explains. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Driverless cars will change where you live, how you work, and will reshape whole industries. And they'll be here before you know it. Randal O'Toole comments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Donald Trump's proposed border wall will require one of the largest seizures of private property in recent American history. Ilya Somin discusses the complicating factors. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What exactly did the public, much less the Senate, get out of the nomination hearings of Neil Gorsuch? Ilya Shapiro comments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How do the crime rates of immigrants compare to native-born Americans? Alex Nowrasteh explains in his new paper, Criminal Immigrants: Their Numbers, Demographics, and Countries of Origin. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Do any real safeguards assure that Americans' data isn't being collected by intelligence agencies? The new Wikileaks revelations about CIA hacking tools offer little comfort. Patrick Eddington comments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The proposed cuts to the Department of Housing and Urban Development amount to a tiny fraction of total federal welfare spending. Vanessa Brown Calder comments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Peter Van Doren explains why substantive regulatory change will mean changing statutes, not merely reorganizing the executive branch. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The successful spending reforms of other countries may not yet be on the President's radar. They should be. Dan Mitchell explains. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A great deal of government surveillance of Americans is done without a warrant. And asserting your right against such surveillance is often virtually impossible. Barry Friedman, author of Unwarranted, comments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The focus of reforming health coverage should be to legalize more varieties of it. So says Dr. Jeffrey Singer, an adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As long as the feds refuse to enforce marijuana laws uniformly across the United States, Rep. Thomas Garrett (R-VA) says it's time to end federal cannabis prohibition. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Republicans had the better part of a decade to come up with a plan to replace the Affordable Care Act. The House leadership plan retains many of Obamacare's elements. Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN) comments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Trump travel ban covering several majority Muslim countries is a slight improvement, but contains many of the same flaws as the original. Alex Nowrasteh explains. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Julian Sanchez traces the origin and likelihood of a strange claim from the White House of wiretapping by the previous administration. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The regulation of alcohol may be antiquated, but sometimes regulators cross into regulating commercial speech. Jim Caruso, CEO of Flying Dog Brewery, talks about regulation of beer and regulation of speech. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The linchpin of health care reform may be the impact Obamacare has on the quality of care. Michael Cannon and Emily Ekins comment on the law and new polling data on how to reform health care. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

President Trump’s massive centrally planned infrastructure proposal misses the mark. Cato’s Chris Edwards argues that Trump should focus on devolving control of assets and privatize many currently public infrastructure projects. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With Donald Trump's plans for big spending on the military, entitlements, and infrastructure, big-government conservatism has returned to Washington. Michael Tanner comments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Pentagon has never really been audited and the strategic focus of our military is scattered, at best. So why increase the military budget? Ben Friedman comments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What has the Affordable Care Act meant for health insurance coverage? What should repeal look like? Aaron Yelowitz comments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

SpendingTracker.org is a project aimed at giving citizens a clear idea about how much individual members of Congress vote to spend. Jonathan Bydlak of the Coalition to Reduce Spending discusses the project. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Feds often condition federal funds on state government behavior. But how much can the feds withhold if states don't play ball? That may be a critical question as President Trump seeks state help with his immigration plans. Josh Blackman comments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What laws are enabling President Trump's stepped up immigration enforcement? Alex Nowrasteh explains. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How do Islam and classical liberalism diverge? Can there be a reconciliation? Mustafa Akyol, author of Islam without Extremes, comments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

H. L. Mencken's relationship with religion and religious people was complicated. D. G. Hart is author of Damning Words: The Life and Religious Times of H. L. Mencken. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sean Dunagan, a former DEA researcher and now with Law Enforcement Action Partnership, discusses the Obama record and Trump Administration plans with respect to the ongoing War on Drugs. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Massive protests greeted Donald Trump upon his inauguration, but speaking out against the president will require a robust First Amendment. Will the American Left support it? Luke Wachob of the Center for Competitive Politics believes so. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The departure of Michael Flynn from the Trump Administration reveals more than just the problems of poorly timed phone calls to foreign officials. Julian Sanchez comments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Stingrays trick your phone into giving data to the cops. Is that legal? Constitutional? Adam Bates comments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How do so-called "bottleneckers" restrict competition and harm the public? Dick Carpenter of the Institute for Justice discusses his new book, Bottleneckers. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What does Donald Trump mean for the broad libertarian movement? And why shouldn't we give credit to politicians when they do things we like? Anthony Comegna comments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When President Trump this week suggested destroying the career of a state lawmaker in Texas, he put civil asset forfeiture in the spotlight like never before. Texas State Senator Konni Burton is that lawmaker. She wants civil forfeiture to end entirely. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The delegation of trade authorities to the executive may end up allowing Donald Trump to instigate mischief in the trade realm. Dan Ikenson discusses a possible trade war with China. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

New agency guidelines for future financial regulation are spelled out in President Trump's recent executive order. Thaya Brook Knight comments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As a federal court considers the travel ban on people from several majority Muslim countries, how many people have been affected? The figures presented by the White House seem to be way off. Alex Nowrasteh comments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Whoever pays for it, President Trump's plans for a wall separating the U.S. from Mexico is fatally flawed on a number of fronts. Dan Griswold explains. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Neil Gorsuch's own writings raise at least one concern about how he would perform on the Supreme Court. Ilya Somin comments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why do key members of the Trump Administration believe the Iran nuclear deal is so weak? How would other signatories to the deal respond to a U.S. withdrawal? John Glaser comments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Neil Gorsuch, President Trump's pick for the Supreme Court, has much to recommend him to libertarians, according to Cato adjunct scholar Andrew Grossman. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Federal appellate judge Neil Gorsuch is President Trump’s pick to replace the late Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court. What do we know about his judicial opinions and philosophy? Ilya Shapiro comments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

From where does the U.S. receive refugees and why does that matter? And why be optimistic about prospects for immigration reform? Tim Kane of the Hoover Institution comments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.