Cato Event Podcast

In 1905, the Supreme Court rendered two landmark decisions on the scope of individual liberty: Jacobson v. Massachusetts and Lochner v. New York. Jacobson’s broad deference to public health authority lived side by side with Lochner’s broader conception of economic liberty. While the restrictive precedent, Jacobson, now governs all pandemic response, Lochner is no longer available as a check, having been thrown in the dustbin of legal history. Judges follow a variant of Jacobson that’s far removed from the actual decision to resolve disputes over religious freedom, abortion, gun rights, voting, and more. Over the course of a century, four prominent justices established the irrepressible myth of Jacobson v. Massachusetts.At a time when state police power has imposed unprecedented limits on individuals’ ability to provide for themselves, Lochner should be brought out of lockdown. The rationales for Lochner’s subsequent disa

Developed by Sphere alumnus and AP world history teacher Sean Kinnard, these dynamic lessons easily bring to life the story of human progress in your classroom. Suitable for multiple subject areas and grade levels, these easily adapted resources cover such topics as the industrial revolution, famine and agriculture, innovation, comparative world history, and the growth of human flourishing and prosperity. These lessons represent the initial launch of Sphere’s goal to develop classroom resources that help support you as a teacher in your effort to bring civic culture to the classroom. In this webinar, you will also learn more about what’s in the development pipeline and exciting updates about Sphere Summit 2022. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The Cato Institute is pleased to welcome Arizona governor Doug Ducey to the F. A. Hayek Auditorium this Thursday, October 14, from 2–3 p.m. for a panel discussion with Cato senior fellow Dr. Jeffrey Singer. “Happier and Healthier—Arizona’s Success with Free Markets” will explore the state’s leadership in public policies that seek to use free‐​market principles to improve the health care outcomes for its residents and how those policies might serve as a model for other states. Arizona has led with introducing first‐​in‐​the‐​nation telehealth reform and first‐​in‐​the‐​nation occupational licensure recognition; making better use of the health care expertise in the state workforce; combating the opioid crisis with proven solutions; and implementing a slate of executive actions that have made it easier to move to Arizona, get to work, access quality health care, and live a productive life. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Freedom of speech and the free exercise of religion are at the heart of liberty. For hundreds of years, people have flocked to the United States to escape religious persecution and censorship. Judge David Stras joins us for a special address, reflecting on how his grandparents’ harrowing experiences during the Holocaust shaped his own beliefs on these precious First Amendment freedoms. Following his address, we will be joined by nationally renowned First Amendment expert Eugene Volokh, himself an immigrant, to discuss these issues as well as the recent rise in anti‐​Semitism in the United States. We hope you will join us for this timely discussion and look forward to your engaging questions. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

When the Supreme Court handed down its decision in District of Columbia v. Heller overturning provisions of DC’s gun licensing laws, it set off a wave of legal challenges, policy fights, and legislation across the country. Join prominent legal scholars of the Second Amendment for this interactive conversation as they discuss the Heller ruling and the subsequent legal and legislative fights and provide an overview of where things stand today. This conversation is all the timelier, as the Supreme Court will consider a major new Second Amendment case in the coming term, New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. Corlett. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

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A new documentary, Corporate Welfare: Where’s the Outrage?, tells the personal stories of how people are affected by the tax exemptions, subsidies, government regulations, and bailouts used to help big business. Hosted by Free to Choose Executive Editor and Cato Institute Senior Fellow Johan Norberg and featuring former CEO of BB&T John Allison, the documentary reveals the government’s role in the 2008 financial crash.Please join us for an engaging and thought‐​provoking conversation with Norberg and Allison. A short segment of Corporate Welfare: Where’s the Outrage? will be shown during the program.The documentary examines America’s system of farm subsidies, Tax Increment Financing (TIF), Big Oil subsidies, government policies, bailouts, and tax breaks for big business. The program takes viewers across America to talk with individuals whose lives and livelihood have been directly affected by the outrages of corporate welfare.“Many government programs begin with good intentions, but th

The Civil War and its aftermath were a turning point in American history. Starting near the end of the war and then continuing during Reconstruction, Congress set to work drafting three constitutional amendments that would fundamentally alter our founding document. The Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth amendments, collectively known as the Reconstruction Amendments, aimed to protect the liberties that had previously been denied in much of the country. Together, these amendments abolished slavery, established the rights to due process and equal protection, and banned racial discrimination in voting laws.Today, the Reconstruction Amendments remain at the heart of some of our most contentious legal controversies: Does equal protection mandate equality of outcome or equality of opportunity? To what extent does due process carry with it substantive rights of personal autonomy? And do the “privileges or immunities” guaranteed to all citizens encompass a broader set of rights than courts have been will

The social‐​distancing measures required to address the COVID-19 pandemic led to a newfound appreciation for the use of telehealth, a technological advance that has been available for several decades. State licensing laws for health care practitioners have impeded widespread use of telemedicine. Most states only permit health care practitioners to provide telehealth services to patients in the state in which the practitioners are licensed, a barrier to the free flow of health care services across state lines. Patients can travel to another state to receive medical treatment and even surgery from a doctor licensed in that state, but those doctors cannot provide telehealth services to the same patients unless they are licensed in the states in which the patients reside.While the pandemic led many states to suspend the barriers to movement of health care practitioners and to the delivery of telemedicine across state lines, these were only temporary emergency measures. Fortunately, some states

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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.