Cato Podcast

Squatters pose a challenge for property owners, law enforcement, and state legislatures. Kyle Sweetland of the Pacific Legal Foundation offers some ways for states to address the issue to give owners more control over their property. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

An old and common law on many cities' books was meant to crack down on houses of prostitution. Today those same laws are used to effectively ban boarding houses or college student housing. Deirdre McCloskey and Art Carden tell the tale. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Cato's Patrick Eddington details what he's learned about how intelligence agencies handle requests for information about their own internal accountability measures. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Discussions about renewing or adopting something like the JCPOA to slow Iran's advance toward nuclear weapons should be tempered by the evidence. Justin Logan believes it's a dead letter. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When the government sets the allowable interest rate on credit cards, that's a straightforward price control. Nick Anthony explains why Donald Trump's recent proposal to limit credit card interest would be disastrous. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has continued his largely successful push to centralize power in Mexico under him. Cato's Ian Vasquez says the turn away from markets and freedom will bring dire results for average people. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The legal landscape for parents seeking religious education for their children has become friendlier, thanks in large part to court rulings relating to school choice and religious discrimination. Neal McCluskey details where things stand now. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A new law challenging TikTok's presence in the US went before a federal court this week. Cato's Jennifer Huddleston and Tommy Berry detail the arguments presented. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

At the Cato Institute's conference on financial privacy, Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC) discussed the civil liberties implications of pervasive financial surveillance of Americans among other issues with Cato's Jennifer Schulp. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When the Federal Reserve uses a ministerial task to punish financial innovation, what's a bank to do? Take them to court, for one. Caitlin Long is CEO of Custodia Bank. She and Cato's Jack Solowey detail how and why the Fed is cracking down on innovators. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In evaluating the potential outcomes of the expansion of AI, the natural tendency is to downplay the benefits and highlight the risks. Oprah Winfrey recently jumped into the conversation. Jennifer Huddleston comments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Protecting our earthly environment is a worthy task, so why do many conservatives seem to believe that the private sector should have a severely limited role? Todd Myers of the Washington Policy Center offers his take. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The FDA's rejection of MDMA as a treatment may well be a short-term setback for legally helping people with PTSD and other disorders. Mason Marks of Harvard Law School’s Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy offers his assessment. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After months of protest, counterprotest, and administrative overreaction over the last school year, the protection of free speech on college campuses seems less certain than ever. Angela Erickson of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression discusses their new College Free Speech Rankings. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In The Islamic Moses, Mustafa Akyol provides a theological and historical exploration of the connection between Islam and Judaism through the single most-mentioned character in the Quran. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What will/should conservatism look like after this election year? John Hood of the John William Pope Foundation comments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The "degrowth" movement has many adherents, so it's worth emphasizing the manifold benefits of economic growth to the lives of humans across the globe. Justin Callais of the Archbridge Institute explains. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What appears to have started as a judge's request to have critical content removed from X (Twitter) has escalated into the country's highest court banning the service altogether. Cato’s David Inserra discusses how the US should respond. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Getting a handle on the state-level regulatory burdens can identify inexpensive ways for states to step away from useless intervention. Patrick McLaughlin of the Mercatus Center details a new index aimed at that task. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Fights over whether states should give parents a broader range of education options don't get much more pointed than public school officials leveraging state resources to advocate against public questions. Jacob Huebert of the Liberty Justice Center details two current cases of that kind of electioneering. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What should we expect from the state-level advance of prescribing psychologists, non-physicians who are able to prescribe certain medications? Jeff Singer says their potential for helping patients is strong. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's still just a wisp of an idea, but Kamala Harris's plan to ban so-called "corporate price gouging" assumes a lot (wrongly) about how grocery stores operate. Scott Lincicome offers his thoughts. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Parents in West Virginia have new education options thanks to the Hope Scholarship. It's also dramatically expanded education entrepreneurship in the state. Jessi Troyan of the Cardinal Institute explains what it means for other efforts to broaden the range of choices available to families. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A large child tax credit is among a handful of remarkably similar campaign pledges from the campaigns of Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. Vanessa Brown Calder offers some analysis. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

At Cato University earlier this month, journalist Radley Balko discussed a range of ways that public sector officials, particularly police and prosecutors, are largely able to escape accountability for misconduct. He offers at least one way to evaluate certain incidents to prevent tragic outcomes for Americans going forward. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Federal Reserve, when committed to a policy rule, could enhance its own institutional credibility while giving Congress a means to hold the central bank more accountable. Jai Kedia explains. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

From Tim Walz misunderstanding what the First Amendment protects to European regulators trying to squelch speech on American platforms, the threats to free speech are numerous. David Inserra comments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The US ought to take a step back from the war in Ukraine. Doug Bandow explains why. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Presidential candidates Harris and Trump both seem amenable to special tax benefits for their favored groups of voters, be they tipped workers or recipients of Social Security benefits. Is that good tax policy? Adam Michel explains. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Giving parents a wider variety of choices for their own kids means disrupting existing institutional power. But does enhancing parental choice in education "blow a hole" in state budgets? Cato’s Neal McCluskey evaluates the case of Arizona. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

New polling from the Cato Institute asks Americans to weigh their preferences for Buy American policies against the very real likelihood that protectionism will hit them in their pocketbooks. Scott Lincicome and Emily Ekins detail the results. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What makes a monopoly depends on who you ask and what’s being monopolized. In the case of Google, it's a narrow focus on one element of its business: search. Jennifer Huddleston details how a court concluded that Google, despite its many competitors, is still a search monopolist. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How have candidates navigated the thorny politics of cryptocurrency? Nicholas Anthony discusses how crypto crept into the 2024 election. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Public support for fostering robust legal immigration has taken a dramatic negative turn. What's likely under a Trump or Harris administration on immigration? David Bier comments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Does a former U.S. Senator from the Bay Area have more than the usual sympathy for tech firms fearing the heavy hand of federal regulators? Cato's Jennifer Huddleston evaluates candidates Trump and Harris on tech policy and regulation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Many states declared states of emergency during the recent pandemic, and those declarations conferred fresh powers to the executive branch. What do those powers do in terms of saving lives? Christian Bjørnskov is coauthor of State of Emergency: An Economic Analysis. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Project 2025 has effectively become an epithet for many Democrats. The project was aimed at providing the next administration with a roadmap for reform in a wide variety of areas, some more controversial than others. Neal McCluskey offers a couple cheers aimed at the education portion of the document. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When parents have choices to make in education, it's an opportunity for parents to engage with what schools are offering. Colleen Hroncich and Jamie Buckland detail how states should proceed with helping those parents navigate the new landscape. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Large increases in home prices mean both home appreciation and closing off housing options for would-be buyers. Housing researcher Nolan Gray discusses a range of federal options for removing some state and local regulatory barriers to new housing. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Neither Donald Trump nor Kamala Harris will make a full-throated defense of the freedom to trade, and both would use trade restrictions to score points or compel Americans' behavior. Scott Lincicome discusses their policy preferences. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It is no small matter to attempt to hide a physical or mental infirmity in the President of the United States. The ramifications could be severe. Walter Olson discusses considerations in any attempt to insert some transparency into what the public and Congress should know about the chief executive’s wellbeing. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Cato's Travis Fisher walks us through the record and pronouncements of candidates Donald Trump and Kamala Harris on critical energy issues. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Republicans seem so concerned about Joe Biden's departure from the presidential race that some groups have threatened litigation over any Biden replacement on Americans' ballots. Walter Olson comments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why have five or more children? Hannah's Children: The Women Quietly Defying the Birth Dearth by Catherine Pakaluk details the stories and reasoning of dozens of women who have gone well beyond replacement-level fertility. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Donald Trump's running mate this time around is a consistent opponent of immigration and doesn't draw the typical – and reasonable - distinctions between legal and illegal immigrants. David Bier comments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Protectionism is frequently justified on national security grounds, but there are strong reasons to liberalize trade in the name of American security, as well. Colin Grabow explains. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The One Weird Trick of public health advocacy seems to be to define as much as possible as a public health concern to justify massive intervention into the lives of Americans. Jeff Singer explains. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Most Americans have access to either medical or recreational cannabis, but prohibition at the federal level persists, and that prohibition keeps in place at least two big problems. Paul Best explains. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

David Inserra says looming regulation of artificial intelligence has huge implications for the future of free expression. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The fiscal picture for the federal government is increasingly dire. Social Security’s worsening finances figure prominently in that story. Cato's Romina Boccia and Brian Riedl of the Manhattan Institute tell the tale. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.