Cato Podcast

Smoking is bad for you, but what about the guy next to you? And why are public health experts seemingly just as concerned about e-cigarettes as the real thing? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Reforming our system of copyrights is needed now more than ever. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Reining in certain NSA abuses is now closer to reality. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The technocratic approach to ending global poverty favored by development experts often strengthens authoritarian governments and neglects or undermines the preferences and personal choices of poor people.The Tyranny of Experts: Economists, Dictators, and the Forgotten Rights of the Poor Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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If you want to know why so many Defense Department projects are behind schedule and over budget, follow the incentives.https://www.cato.org/blog/dods-misaligned-incentives Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why Government Fails So Often: And How It Can Do Better Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Military interventions, even when driven by humanitarian concerns, should be judged by their actual consequences. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The cost of higher education continues to rise, but that’s not the case everywhere. Some schools are providing low-cost four-year degrees, all without large-scale subsidies. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

President Obama is conventional with regard to government secrecy, even on matters of when and where the President may unilaterally order the execution of Americans. This comes despite claims that his administration would be "the most transparent" in history. Cato Vice President Gene Healy provides details. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

India has made great strides in human well being, but much remains to be done to bring millions more out of poverty. Which states are leading on measures of economic freedom and good governance? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Retired Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens would alter the Constitution in a few ways. He specifically wants to make adjustments to the First and Second Amendments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The impulse to trust experts and vest them with the power to make decisions for us gives rise to central planning's worst abuses. It's a powerful impulse that freedom's champions must work to overcome. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nonprofit universities make money, but they expense those profits away in various ways that don't help students or taxpayers. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The next head of the Department of Health and Human Services will wield more power than predecessor Kathleen Sebelius Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Social Security regrets its sins-of-the-fathers grab at grown kids' tax refunds. The plan would have allowed the government to claw back sometimes decades-old overpayments at the expense of the recipients' children. What comes next? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Internal Revenue Service is trying to license tax preparers without approval from Congress. If the scheme is allowed to continue, small tax preparers could be put out of business. That may be just fine with big box providers like H&R Block. Dan Alban represents some of these tax preparers in federal court. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Change is coming to higher education, but it won't be easy and it won't be popular. Glenn Reynolds argues that decades of federal subsidies and piles of student debt have not given us better outcomes for students. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

An improved standard of living depends on experimentation with new ideas, but politicians always seem to insist that innovators seek permission first. Author Adam Thierer argues they have it precisely backwards. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and his Fidesz party emerged victorious in elections there, but the swelling concentration of power into his office has been troubling to more than just his opposition. An ultranationalist, anti-Semitic party also made large gains in the parliament. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Federal Reserve's record over the past century includes the Great Depression, the Great Inflation and the Financial Crisis in 2008. Is it time for a monetary commission to examine the Fed's record in greater detail?Event: The Fed’s 100th Anniversary and the Case for a Centennial Monetary Commission Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac contributed mightily to the financial crisis. The bailouts delivered to Fannie and Freddie were much larger than those received by many other financial firms, but opposition remains to winding the two firms down. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Contributions to candidates as individual acts don't corrupt the political process, so what about contributions overall? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The kidney shortage in the United States is expensive for those affected. And if it's too expensive, it's often fatal. Iran has dramatically alleviated the kidney shortage by allowing donors to be compensated.The Kidney Sellers: A Journey of Discovery in Iran Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's easy to laugh at North Korea's backwardness, but that laughter encourages us to ignore the government's brutality in the least free nation on earth. Michael Malice, in his new book, attempts to demystify the regime.DEAR READER: The Unauthorized Autobiography of Kim Jong Il Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bills to raise revenue are supposed to start in the U.S. House. So why did ObamaCare receive the "gut and replace" treatment when it arrived in the Senate? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The President's plan to reform National Security Agency surveillance would nullify one form of bulk collection of Americans' phone records, but leaks about NSA implicate the agency is a far wider range of mischief. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The number of states with zero school choice options gets smaller every year. Bob Bowdon of Choice Media evaluates the state of educational freedom for children in the United States. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tesla Motors makes "premium electric" automobiles, but some state-level protectionists don't like that Tesla owns its own dealerships.Tesla and the Red-State Blues Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sanctions on foreign countries that do bad things don't tend to achieve the desired results, but what about lifting punitive trade restrictions on countries in need? Bill Watson calls them "anti-sanctions."Let's Try Anti-Sanctions Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Supreme Court will soon have another chance to rein in police searches of our personal electronics. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Even on humanitarian grounds, the war in Libya didn't help the people of that country prosper, says Benjamin H. Friedman.Did the Military Intervention in Libya Succeed? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When should your right to free expression be trumped by the demands of antidiscrimination laws?Choosing What to Photograph Is a Form of Speech Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There was a time in the United States when young children roamed free of the fear of kidnapping or other horrible fates. The world has gotten much safer since then.Quit Bubble-Wrapping Our Kids! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The NSA's use of hijacked botnets and fake Facebook pages are aimed at gathering intelligence on a massive scale, whether or not those surveilled are suspected of any wrongdoing. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The head of the Senate intelligence committee accuses the CIA of surveilling and intimidating Senate staffers as they attempted to learn more about alleged CIA abuses. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The IRS is a political agency. It's been used against political opponents going back to at least the 1960s. New proposed rules governing nonprofits that lobby Congress could muzzle those groups when they want to talk to their own members. David Keating is President of the Center for Competitive Politics.Censorship Through the Tax Code: How the Proposed IRS Rules for Social Welfare Groups Stifle Political Activity Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The dramatic rise in criminal penalties at both the state and federal level is cause for concern. Marc Levin of the Texas Public Policy Foundation argues that many petty crimes, though rightfully illegal, shouldn’t carry jail time. Restitution, he argues, is often a more appropriate penalty.Welcome Rumblings of a Wider Drug War ClemencyIn the Name of Justice: Leading Experts Reexamine the Classic Article The Aims of the Criminal Law Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There has been an explosion of partnerships, exchanges, and programs between U.S. institutions of higher education and those in China. While made in the spirit of intellectual and scholarly collaboration, these relationships have proceeded without serious consideration of the practical and moral/ethical issues posed by dealing with authoritarian regimes.Chinese Intrusions into American Universities: Consequences for Freedom Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Federal funds designated for “overseas contingency operations” are supposed to be for unplanned expenses associated with war. But the funds avoid federal budget caps on military spending and avoid normal scrutiny associated with other federal spending priorities. Now that the war in Afghanistan is winding down, Christopher A. Preble argues it’s time for lawmakers to zero out that spending.Truth in Budgeting and Personnel Costs in the OCO Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The President’s myRA proposal aimed at helping low-income Americans save for retirement seems to have missed a key element of helping low-income people save more: the tax break provided by traditional IRAs. The myRA proposal doesn’t provide that break and, says Jagadeesh Gokhale, that makes it an inapt savings vehicle for people with low incomes. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The state pension problem continues to worsen, but several states are moving ahead with positive reforms. Will Freeland is a research analyst at the American Legislative Exchange Council. We talked about which states are doing reform right and how to know if your state lawmakers are serious about fixing the problem.State and Local Pension Plans: Funding Status, Asset Management, and a Look Ahead by Jagadeesh Gokhale Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When state attorneys general refuse to defend in court certain laws, important principles come into conflict. Cato Institute senior fellow Walter Olson sorts out the issue as it relates to same-sex marriage. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

From Cass Sunstein to Chris Christie, the fear of a libertarian planet seem more present than ever. Cato Institute Vice President Gene Healy says the fear lacks substance.False Idol: Barack Obama and the Continuing Cult of the Presidency (Digital) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Proposed IRS rules aimed at 501(c)(4) organizations could effectively force these groups to scrub their websites of even the most banal reference to a politician. Allen Dickerson is the legal director of the Center for Competitive Politics.Censorship Through the Tax Code: How the Proposed IRS Rules for Social Welfare Groups Stifles Political Activity Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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