Cato Event Podcast

Ever since Congress created the income tax in 1913, workers have been able to avoid paying tax on income they receive in the form of fringe benefits, such as health insurance. The flip side of this feature is that Congress effectively threatens workers with higher taxes unless they allow their employer to control a large portion of their income and their health insurance. As marginal income‐​tax rates grew, so did that implicit penalty. As health insurance premiums grew, the amount of workers’ money this feature allows employers to control directly has grown to roughly $900 billion per year.Eighty‐​three years later, on August 22, 1996, President Bill Clinton signed a law creating tax‐​free Archer Medical Savings Accounts (MSAs). Archer MSAs freed workers to receive a small portion of their health benefits as cash—without a tax penalty. Later, President George W. Bush signed a law creating tax‐​free health savings accounts (HSAs), which allow workers to take more of their health benef

For an entire generation, at home and abroad, the United States has waged a war on terror. Fighting it has produced neither peace nor victory, but it has transformed America. A politically divided country turned the war on terror into a cultural and then tribal struggle, first on the ideological fringes and ultimately expanding to open a door for today’s nationalist, exclusionary resurgence.In Reign of Terror, journalist Spencer Ackerman argues that war on terror policies laid a foundation for American authoritarianism. In Ackerman’s account, Barack Obama’s failure to end the war on terror after the killing of Osama Bin Laden allowed cultural polarization to progress and set the groundwork for Donald Trump’s rise to power. As we approach the 20th anniversary of 9/11, please join us for a discussion of how the war on terror transformed the United States and the prospects for moving away from its divisive excesses. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In June, the Food and Drug Administration gave marketing approval to the Alzheimer’s drug Aduhelm, against the unanimous advice of its advisory panel. Three of the panel’s five members resigned in protest. The panel’s members and many other medical experts claim there is no convincing evidence that the drug provides clinical benefit. Other critics complain that what they see as a useless drug will now cost Medicare (and taxpayers) $56,000 per patient per year.The Aduhelm controversy brings into focus long‐​standing arguments against efficacy requirements for FDA drug approval, especially when the FDA also permits practitioners to prescribe any approved drugs “off label,” deferring to their expertise and clinical judgment. The controversy also directs attention to federal laws that require Medicare to cover most FDA‐​approved drugs and prohibit Medicare from negotiating drug prices.Experts on health care, health and regulatory law, and health economics will explore these and related issues in what promise

In his new book, New Way to Care: Social Protections That Put Families First, author John Goodman argues that our most important social insurance institutions are in desperate need of reform. Goodman proposes a simple idea. People of any age should have the choice to opt out of social insurance in favor of alternatives that better meet their individual and family needs. In particular, people should be able to substitute the assets and arrangements they own for the insurance systems that the government currently forces people to participate in.Join us to hear Goodman discuss ways to reform health insurance with commentary from Cato Director of Health Policy Studies Michael F. Cannon. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

For years there has been an ongoing debate about the causes of medical malpractice liability insurance premium spikes and their impact on access to care and defensive medicine. State legislatures responded to premium spikes by enacting damages caps on noneconomic, punitive, or total damages, and Congress has periodically debated the merits of a federal cap on damages in medical malpractice cases.Yet, there has been a shortage of evidence in support of the narrative that excessive damage awards are responsible for such premium spikes. What did cause those premium spikes? What effect did state‐​level medical malpractice reform have? Did it reduce frivolous litigation? Did it improve access to health care and/​or reduce defensive medicine? Both sides in the debate have strong opinions, but their positions are mostly based on anecdotes.In a new book, Medical Malpractice Litigation: How It Works, Why Tort Reform Hasn’t Helped, a politically diverse team of researchers provide an accessible

National debates over policies that affect the flow of digital information are heating up as censorship, surveillance, control over personal data, and requirements to store data locally have emerged as contentious political issues. At the same time, governments are negotiating international agreements that constrain their ability to regulate domestically. What exactly are the problems that have been caused by domestic regulation of the flow of digital information? And can international agreements help solve them? Please join us for a discussion of these timely issues. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

You’ve heard the hype: Quantum technologies will supposedly disrupt cybersecurity and revolutionize computers, communications, and sensors. Perhaps they will. Perhaps not. Accurate or not, technology hype is common and consequential. This discourse does work. Evoking exceptional expectations about future tech can shape military research and development, as well as threat perceptions. The future is difficult to predict, however. Hype isn’t all bad, but it can mask important gaps between the imagined and actual performance of quantum technologies. It can also draw attention away from less flashy but more significant social and technical change.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Thomas Sowell is one of the great social theorists of our age. In a career spanning more than half a century, few scholars have matched his combination of range, rigor, and accessibility. He has written more than 30 books covering topics including economic history, social inequality, political philosophy, race, migration, and culture. His bold and unsentimental assaults on liberal orthodoxy have endeared him to many but enraged most of his fellow intellectuals, the civil rights establishment, and much of the mainstream media. As a result, critics preoccupied with political correctness have demeaned, downplayed, or ignored his important contributions.In this first‐​ever biography of Sowell, Wall Street Journal columnist Jason L. Riley gives this iconic thinker his due, responds to the detractors, and explains their motives. Maverick: A Biography of Thomas Sowell (Basic Books, May 2021) not only showcases Sowell’s most significant writings but also vividly traces the life

What is American identity? How people answer that question has implications for their views on policy and politics in the United States. The current era has seen the growth of explicit nationalism in American politics. In After Nationalism, Samuel Goldman examines whether the United States has ever had a stable vision of shared identity and purpose. Examining the country from its founding to the modern day, Goldman highlights recurring contestation over what it means to be an American and shows how the coercive Americanization efforts of prior eras are unlikely to pass muster in modern America.Rejecting romantic notions of the past, Goldman urges a more pluralistic approach: “Rather than trying to restore an elusive consensus, I propose that we strengthen institutions of contestation.” Please join Goldman and Anatol Lieven, author of America Right or Wrong: An Anatomy of American Nationalism, for a discussion of what America was, is, and should be. See acast.com/privacy for priva

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Would the plan improve U.S. infrastructure? What would be the effect of the tax increase? Will the plan gain congressional support? What alternative reforms would work better for the nation’s highways, transit, rail, and water systems? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Featuring Joel Kotkin, Chapman University and Michael Tanner, Cato InstituteThis conference, part of Cato’s Project on Poverty and Inequality in California, will bring together a diverse group of political, business, and academic leaders to discuss regulatory and other barriers to rebuilding economic opportunity in poor and minority communities ravaged by COVID-19.Full Conference Here See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Featuring Anastasia P. Boden, Pacific Legal Foundation; Chris Cate, Councilman, City of San Diego; Steven Greenhut, R Street.This conference, part of Cato’s Project on Poverty and Inequality in California, will bring together a diverse group of political, business, and academic leaders to discuss regulatory and other barriers to rebuilding economic opportunity in poor and minority communities ravaged by COVID-19.Full Conference Here See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Featuring Julian Cañete, California Hispanic Chambers of Commerce; Jay King, California Black Chamber of Commerce; Rob Lapsley, California Business Roundtable.This conference, part of Cato’s Project on Poverty and Inequality in California, will bring together a diverse group of political, business, and academic leaders to discuss regulatory and other barriers to rebuilding economic opportunity in poor and minority communities ravaged by COVID-19.Full Conference Here See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Featuring Michael Tanner, Cato Institute and Chris Edwards, Cato Institute.This conference, part of Cato’s Project on Poverty and Inequality in California, will bring together a diverse group of political, business, and academic leaders to discuss regulatory and other barriers to rebuilding economic opportunity in poor and minority communities ravaged by COVID-19.Full Conference Here See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The Biden Administration is reportedly considering a federal mandate to lower nicotine levels in cigarettes to nonaddictive levels. Is that just back door prohibition? Tom Firey and Jeff Singer comment. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

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