Cato Event Podcast

Today's largest corporations have mastered the art of working with government officials at every level to stifle market competition. They reap billions through a complex web of higher taxes, stricter regulations, and shameless government handouts. The Big Ripoff pulls back the curtain to show who is strangling America's tradition of free enterprise and how and why they are doing it. Author Timothy Carney will discuss how the incestuous relationship between big business and even bigger government works to the detriment of consumers, taxpayers, and entrepreneurs. Columnist and Fox News contributor Jim Pinkerton will provide comments on the book. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

More than any other Founding Father, Thomas Jefferson made his reputation on the brilliance of his writing, not least the stirring defense of limited government and individual rights in the Declaration of Independence. Few writers have said so much on so many subjects—and said it so well—as Jefferson. The Quotable Jefferson—the most comprehensive and authoritative book of Jefferson quotations ever published—demonstrates that. John Kaminski of the University of Wisconsin has collected and arranged Jefferson's pronouncements on almost 500 subjects, ranging from the profound and public—the Constitution—to the personal and peculiar—cold water bathing. Please join us to discuss the life and writings of our foremost defender of liberty. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The U.S.-Japan strategic relationship is evolving. With the United States struggling to meet military commitments abroad, and with Japan increasingly asserting military autonomy, more can be done to equitably distribute security burdens between the two countries. Christopher Preble will discuss his recent Policy Analysis, "Two Normal Countries: Rethinking the U.S.-Japan Strategic Relationship," which explains that a more equitable alliance will provide a durable foundation for addressing the most pressing security challenges in the region and beyond. Preble is joined by two experts on U.S.-Japan strategic relations to discuss the paper and frame the debate over the proper roles and missions for the United States and Japan. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The current era of globalization is only a partial return to a liberal economic order. Renowned development economist Deepak Lal will explain why minimal government intervention, free trade, free capital flows, and the abolition of international organizations such as the World Bank offer the best path for growth and healthy international relations. In his view, attempts to ameliorate the impact of the market threaten global economic progress and stability. Ethan Kapstein believes that countries will shape their own destinies only in an international system that emphasizes the central role of states and the diverse social contracts they represent. Can these two views be reconciled? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

As the Senate prepares to debate the Federal Marriage Amendment many scholars are looking at evidence from Scandinavia, Belgium, and the Netherlands. Some observers have argued that experience in those countries shows that legal recognition of same-sex unions leads to a decline in traditional marriage and marital child rearing. A new book challenges that analysis. William N. Eskridge Jr. and Darren R. Spedale find that the argument often advanced is inconsistent with the Scandinavian evidence. In no way, they write, has marriage in the Nordic countries suffered from legalization of same-sex unions. A close look at the data suggests that the sanctioning of gay marriage in the United States would neither undermine marriage as an institution nor harm the well-being of children. Maggie Gallagher argues that the move toward gay marriage in Europe is part of a larger marriage crisis, including a powerful trend away from marriage as a social norm for childbearing and child rearing. See acast.com/privacy for privac

Tuesday, May 30The Basic Economics of Health Care and Insurance MarketsFeaturingPeter Van Doren, Senior Fellow, Cato Institute, Former professor of public policy at Princeton, Yale, and UNC–Chapel HillPublic debate about health care is often very ill informed about what insurance markets can and cannot do and what effects health care expenditures actually have on morbidity and mortality. This session will explain to Hill staff basic facts and concepts essential to the understanding of insurance and health care markets as well as the political struggles that accompany them. Wednesday, May 31How Not to Reform Health CareFeaturing Michael Tanner, Director, Health and Welfare Studies, Cato InstituteIn reforming health care, policymakers should follow the principle "First, Do No Harm." There are many proposals for health care reform that will do more harm than good. This session will look at some of them: a single-payer system, employer and individual mandates, insurance regulation, and managed competition.Th

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In April Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney signed into law one of the most ambitious health care reform proposals in recent history. The legislation mandates that all Massachusetts residents purchase health insurance, provides subsidies for low- and middle-income families, and sets up a new purchasing mechanism to reform the health insurance marketplace. Some observers hail this law as a major step toward achieving universal coverage. Others worry that it is a first step on the slippery slope to national health care. Four experts will examine the benefits and flaws of the Massachusetts plan and whether other states or the nation should follow its example. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Deluged by indecency complaints since Janet Jackson's infamous "wardrobe malfunction," Congress continues to look for ways to respond that may or may not be constitutional, even as the FCC imposes multi-million-dollar fines on TV networks. But those measures may soon be eclipsed by a new campaign underwritten by TV stations, cable systems, DBS, movie studios, TV programmers, and the Consumer Electronics Association to inform parents about a recently developed, simplified program that will enable parents to control all TV programming coming into their homes. Please join us for a discussion of this nongovernmental effort to address the issue, with comments from the FCC. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

As Ben Bernanke settles into his new role as chairman of the Federal Reserve, now is an opportune time for him to reassess certain aspects of the central bank's activities and practices. The Shadow Open Market Committee will discuss some of the dimensions of the challenges facing the Fed. How much further should the Fed tighten monetary policy? As the Fed considers inflation targeting, what would be an appropriate measure of inflation to target? To improve transparency, the Fed needs to provide a more open discussion of what it considers the most important drivers of inflation and why. In addition, the Fed might consider ways of conducting policy based on alternative sets of rules or guidelines. The SOMC will also review the appropriate role of the Fed in select nonmonetary activities that the Fed has taken on over the years. Do they contribute to the Fed's performance of its monetary policy responsibility, or are they time-consuming distractions? Examples include setting margin requirements for equity purcha

Since it was revealed recently by the New York Times, the administration's previously secret NSA surveillance program has brought to the fore a number of novel and complex legal questions. Does the executive branch have inherent authority to conduct the program? What is Congress's authority to set limits on the executive branch? What role should the courts play? Those and other questions have led to different conclusions even within the Cato Institute. Please join us for a debate between two Cato scholars on this most timely issue. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The single most important economic and sociological change in our society in the past 60 years has been the entry of women into the labor market. Our public policy institutions have not kept apace. Tax law, labor law, and a host of other institutions are still designed to favor women who remain in the home and are often unfair to married women who enter the labor market. Many changes in tax law, employee benefits, and retirement policy are needed to bring aging institutions in sync with the way people live in the 21st century. Just before Mother's Day, join us for a discussion of women living and working in a 21st-century economy with 20th-century laws and policies. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Although Americans generally think of global trade only in terms of economics, the free exchange of goods and services between nations can also have important political effects. With America's attention increasingly turned toward the Middle East, the role of free trade in sparking peaceful reform must not be forgotten. To counter the threat from al-Qaeda we must fight with ideas as well as bullets.Cato senior fellow Tom G. Palmer, who has recently made three visits to Iraq, will be joined by Rep. Paul Ryan of the Congressional Middle East Economic Partnership Caucus and Zainab Al-Suwaij from the American Islamic Congress for a discussion of the importance of trade and ideas in furthering the twin goals of economic freedom and geopolitical stability. At the event the Cato Institute will unveil its Arabic-language edition of the U. S. Declaration of Independence and Constitution. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Belarus attained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. Since he took power in 1994, however, Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko has cracked down on his opponents and rigged successive elections. Today, Belarus lacks basic political freedoms, including the freedoms of the press, association, and expression. The Belarusian economy continues to be run according to the discredited socialist principle of central planning. Jaroslav Romanchuk, a prominent Belarusian opposition figure, and Anders Aslund, renowned specialist in post-Soviet economics, will discuss the state of political and economic freedom in Belarus and the role that Russia plays in keeping Lukashenko in power. Please join us for a discussion of life under what the State Department and the European Union have called "the last dictatorship in Europe." See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

As the War on Drugs continues to fill America's prisons with nonviolent offenders, many cities and states are looking at mandatory treatment as an alternative to incarceration. Although treatment is generally preferable to prison, not all methods of treating drug addiction are the same. Some methods, particularly the "tough love" programs aimed at teens and adolescents, have documented records of mental abuse, physical abuse, and even death.In her new book, Help at Any Cost, Maia Szalavitz takes a critical look at the history, controversy, and effectiveness of "tough love" rehabilitation programs. Blending personal stories and anecdotes with the detached narrative of a reporter, Szalavitz paints a troubling picture of the increasingly popular "get tough" approach to drug abuse. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Since Enron's collapse in 2002, the federal government has stepped up its campaign against white-collar crime. In Trapped: When Acting Ethically Is against the Law, John Hasnas compellingly illustrates how the campaign against corporate fraud has gone overboard. Hasnas debunks the common assumption that the law only mandates ethical behavior. That may have been true 20 years ago, but no longer. Hasnas points out that business executives have responsibilities to their stockholders, employees, customers, and suppliers. And in addition to their contractual obligations, CEOs have ordinary ethical obligations as human beings to honor their informal commitments. Those ethical complexities are rarely acknowledged by contemporary federal policies that demand compliance with myriad rules and regulations. The result is increasingly a Catch-22 situation in which businesspeople must act either unethically or illegally.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The idea that the United States needs a standing nation-building office has gained strong bipartisan support in Congress. The arguments in favor of such an office are rooted in the belief that failed states are threats to U.S. national security. But do failed states pose such a threat? Further, to the extent that they do, would a permanent nation-building office succeed in averting or remedying state failure? When interventions are absolutely necessary, do we need a standing nation-building corps to plan for the missions?Justin Logan will discuss his and Christopher Preble's recent Policy Analysis, "Failed States and Flawed Logic: The Case against a Standing Nation-Building Office," which explains why the presumption that state failure poses a threat to the United States is flawed. He will also explore the likely costs and risks of a foreign policy dedicated to nation building, given that U.S. nation-building projects in the past have had a highly dubious track record. Preble will explore the greatest foreign

The election of Mwai Kibaki to the Kenyan presidency in 2002 was meant to put an end to the pervasive culture of corruption in that country. One of Kibaki's first acts as head of state was to appoint John Githongo as his anti-corruption czar. Under Kibaki's rule, however, corruption in Kenya continued unabated, and Githongo resigned his position in 2005 and moved to Great Britain. Githongo has implicated Kenya's vice president and three senior ministers in a corruption racket that has cost Kenyan taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars. Githongo will discuss the extent of corruption in Kenya, its effect on development, and the implications for foreign aid donors.View Event Pictures See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

On Tuesday, March 28, the Supreme Court will hear arguments in the case of Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, which concerns a legal challenge to the military tribunals that are seeking to try certain prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay for war crimes. The Bush administration maintains that the president can convene military tribunals to try and punish enemy combatants for offenses against the law of war. Others dispute the idea that the president can presume to decide what rights a prisoner will have and to adjudicate the prisoner's guilt or innocence. Join us for a debate on these matters one day before the Supreme Court hears the controversy. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Congress has been moving rapidly toward enacting new ethics and lobbying regulations. Such regulations have consequences for the elections in the fall, the public's views of Congress as an institution, and the basic political rights of all Americans. Please join us for an examination of the proposed ethics and lobbying regulations by Bradley A. Smith, former chairman of the Federal Election Commission and senior adviser to the Center for Competitive Politics, and Nan Aron, president of the Alliance for Justice. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.