Cato Event Podcast

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President-elect Obama and other politicians are urging a massive expansion in government spending, ostensibly to help the economy recover. This Keynesian endeavor is supposed to boost growth by “priming the pump” by means of circulating extra money through the economy. Yet the notion that bigger government leads to more growth is theoretically suspect: any money that the government “injects” into the economy with new spending (or tax rebates) must first be borrowed and diverted from private use. The economic pie gets sliced differently, but it is not any bigger. The real-world evidence is similarly unfavorable to Keynesianism. Huge increases in government spending under both Hoover and Roosevelt did not help the economy during the 1930s, and more recent Keynesian initiatives—Gerald Ford’s rebates in the mid-1970s, Japan’s stimulus efforts in the 1990s, and President Bush’s rebates in 2001 and 2008—do not seem to have generated positive results. Please join Dan Mitchell of the Cato Institute and Steve Entin of

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Seven years after the invasion of Afghanistan, coalition troops are no closer to winning the war against the Taliban. With security getting worse and a violent insurgency raging in western Pakistan, can the "war on terror’s" central front be won? Will a heavier combat presence, endorsed by President-elect Barack Obama, provide a solution or contribute to the widening problem? Please join us for an in-depth discussion on this critical and turbulent region, and what the next administration can do to save this deteriorating mission. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

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On December 5, 1933, the 21st Amendment to the Constitution was ratified, thus ending our nation's failed experiment with Prohibition. Organized crime flourished during Prohibition, but what were the other effects of the national ban on alcohol? How and why was it repealed? Please join the Cato Institute for a celebration of the 75th anniversary of the repeal of Prohibition and a discussion of its legacy and continuing impact on America. Drinks will be served following the discussion. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Americans spend far more per capita than other nations on medical care. Defenders of America's health sector, such as Rudy Giuliani, claim it delivers superior health outcomes, such as longer cancer survival rates. Detractors claim that other nations systems' deliver equal or better health outcomes such as longer life expectancy and better infant mortality rates. Who is correct? Our speakers will look at what the evidence says about different health care sectors� contributions to population health, and the implications for health care reform. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Purchase at AmazonGeorge Will writes in Newsweek, "Improbable as it might seem, perhaps the most important fact for a voter or politician to know is: No one can make a pencil. That truth is the essence of a novella that is, remarkably, both didactic and romantic. Even more remarkable, its author is an economist. If you read Russell Roberts's The Price of Everything: A Parable of Possibility and Prosperity, you will see the world afresh-unless you already understand Friedrich Hayek's idea of spontaneous order. Roberts sets his story in the Bay Area, where some Stanford students are indignant because a Big Box store doubled its prices after an earthquake. A student leader plans to protest Stanford's acceptance of a large gift from Big Box. The student's economics professor, Ruth, rather than attempting to dissuade him, begins leading him and his classmates to an understanding of prices, markets and the marvel of social cooperation." Roberts will discuss his novel way of teaching economics at a Cato Book Forum,

Last June, the Supreme Court had its first opportunity in seven decades to address one of America's most impassioned constitutional debates: Does the right to possess firearms, as stated in the Second Amendment, apply to individuals? Yes, the Court ruled, it does. And, with that decision, the District of Columbia's handgun ban-one of the most controversial in the nation-was ended. In Gun Control on Trial, journalist Brian Doherty tells the full story behind the landmark District of Columbia v. Heller ruling. With exclusive, behind-the-scenes access throughout the case, Doherty's new book takes readers on a remarkable journey-through the legal, scientific, and historical debates; the political battles; and the myths about gun control that have become widespread. How is the District's new registration process working? How will the Heller precedent impact the firearm regulations in other American cities? Join us for a discussion of the Heller case and its impact. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out in

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