Cato Event Podcast

There has been an explosion of partnerships, exchanges, and programs between U.S. institutions of higher education and those in China. While made in the spirit of intellectual and scholarly collaboration, these relationships have proceeded without serious consideration of the practical and moral/ethical issues posed by dealing with authoritarian regimes. This presentation focuses on the case of Wellesley College's relationship with Peking University as it unfolded in light of the persecution and dismissal of Chinese economist and dissident Xia Yeliang. This case illustrates the pressure that authoritarian-controlled universities can exert on universities in a free society to overlook human rights violations. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Purchase bookNobody likes to fail, yet failure is a ubiquitous element of our lives. According to Megan McArdle, failing often — and well — is an important source of learning for individuals, organizations, and governments. Although failure is critical in coping with complex environments, our cognitive biases often keep us from drawing the correct lessons and adjusting our behavior. Our psychological aversion to failure can compound its undesirable effects, McArdle argues, and transform failures into catastrophes. Please join us for a discussion of how “failing up” allows us to reinvent ourselves and our institutions. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this sequel to Gold: the Once and Future Money, Nathan Lewis describes the theoretical basis of gold-standard monetary systems. Lewis argues that the pre-1913 world gold standard system was perhaps the most successful monetary system the world has ever seen, enabling high levels of economic growth. Descriptions of both Britain’s economic rise under the gold standard and the United States’ rise to economic prominence under gold are also discussed. Lewis offers the technical details necessary to implement and maintain a gold-standard system. Join us for a lively discussion of monetary history and a glance into one possible monetary future. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

More than three years after the departure of U.S. combat troops from Iraq, a determined insurgency rages against the government led by Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. Violence has claimed thousands of lives. Some question whether the Iraqi government can maintain control of several major cities, including Fallujah, the scene of some of the toughest fighting during the eight-year-long U.S. war in Iraq. Some of Maliki’s critics accuse him of stoking the unrest by refusing to make concessions to minority groups in Iraq, in particular Iraq’s Sunni Arab community. Others say that the prime minister should firmly reassert his authority by going after violent extremism and deterring others from supporting the insurgency. The panelists will consider several questions, including: What explains the continuing violence in Iraq? Can Iraq’s disparate communities unite behind a strong central government? And what role, if any, should the United States play? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

A once-in-a-generation supply shock is transforming global energy markets, lowering crude oil and natural gas prices, and quickly making the United States the world's largest producer of oil and gas. But energy politics threatens to short-circuit this American economic boom. Of immediate concern are federal regulations — in particular, discretionary export-licensing systems for natural gas and crude oil — that were implemented during the 1970s, an era of energy scarcity. By restricting exports and subjecting approvals to the whims of politicians, the current licensing systems distort energy prices and deter investment and employment in these promising sectors of the U.S. economy. They also irritate global trading partners, likely violate U.S. trade treaty obligations, and undermine other U.S. policy objectives. Ernest Moniz, President Obama's energy secretary, recently stated that these export restrictions are deserving of "some new analysis and examination in the context of... an energy world tha

Purchase BookStumbling Giant: The Threats to China's Future addresses the challenges China will face during the coming decades and why it is unlikely to overtake the United States this century. The book provides an in-depth analysis of the threats to China's continuing rise, offers bold policy prescriptions addressing those challenges, and explains why — without substantial reform — China is unlikely to replace America as the next superpower. Yale nominated the book for the prestigious Samuel Johnson Prize for nonfiction. Timothy Beardson founded, majority-owned, and ran Crosby Financial Holdings, which became the largest independent investment bank in the Far East. He is a permanent resident of Hong Kong. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In his latest Cato book, Tim Sandefur addresses one of the most neglected topics in modern American constitutional law, the philosophical foundations of the Constitution. He argues that for that we should look to the “conscience” of the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, as Abraham Lincoln did. And if we do, we discover that the Constitution was written not to empower democratic majorities to rule widely, as happens today, but to secure our natural rights to liberty through limited government. In his penetrating analysis of those issues, Sandefur examines the origins of “substantive due process” and “judicial activism and restraint” to argue that only through an engaged judiciary will the promise of the Declaration be realized. Hadley Arkes, one of America’s leading scholars on these issues, will offer comments for what should be an enlightening and timely discussion of a subject of enduring importance. Please join us. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Glamour promises to carry us out of quotidian life into a world more beautiful and fulfilling. But what is glamour? A mere daydream distracting us from our true duties and long-term well-being? An illusion created to stimulate commerce in a capitalist economy? How does glamour relate to envy, to art, to self-improvement, to personal charisma? In her new book, Virginia Postrel builds on her path-breaking work in The Substance of Style to show that beauty and luxury are far from the only touchstones of glamour: the glamour of military life, of the church, of exploration and discovery, have been driving forces throughout human history, unleashing a dazzling form of persuasion that operates by rousing aspiration and longing in the individual. Please join us for a sparkling discussion of these ideas with three leading public intellectuals. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Are we harming public health in the name of environmental protection? Is the theoretical model that drives the regulation of carcinogens and radiation not only flawed, but fundamentally wrong? For over a half-century, this regulation has been based largely on a linear response to pollutants, often with a threshold of a single molecule or a single photon. Voluminous research now shows this paradigm is often wrong.Rather than being harmed by small doses of many regulated compounds, health is often enhanced by low doses. Two obvious examples of this are sunlight and the entire pharmacotherapeutic model. Calabrese’s research has documented hundreds of compounds for which low doses are beneficial while larger ones are detrimental. His presentation will show how the erroneous regulatory paradigm was established and why it now must be abandoned. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In his new book, Tim Harford attempts to demystify macroeconomics in the same way his earlier bestseller, The Undercover Economist, demystified microeconomics. Using his characteristic conversational style, Harford will discuss abstract macroeconomic ideas, explaining the most common models of recessions and the difficulty of discriminating between them on empirical grounds. For example, was the crisis of 2008 driven by supply- or demand-side factors? And why do failures of the financial sector seem to have such severe economic consequences? He will not shy away from other topics, including income inequality, or the growing interest in alternative measures of economic well-being, such as self-reported happiness. Please join us for a discussion of what macroeconomists believe about the economy and of why those beliefs often seem to lead to bad public policy. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In his first book of all new, previously unpublished material since 2007, best-selling humorist P. J. O’Rourke turns his lens on his fellow post-war babies. In The Baby Boom: How It Got That Way … And It Wasn’t My Fault … And I’ll Never Do It Again, O’Rourke draws on his own experiences and leads readers on a candid, laugh-out-loud journey through the circumstances and events that shaped a generation. “We’re often silly, and we’re spoiled by any measure of history,” writes O’Rourke. “At the same time we made the world a better place — just not necessarily in the ways we set out to.”O’Rourke has reported on the inner workings of the U.S. government, explained the global economy, and written on the American automobile industry. At this Cato Book Forum, he will tackle the big, broad problems stemming from the generation that, for better or worse, changed everything. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In recent years, controversy has arisen over perceived conflicts between intellectual property protection and public health, and also over the role of international investment rules that allow corporations to sue governments before international tribunals. A new case combines both issues. Pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly has filed a claim before a NAFTA tribunal, alleging that Canadian court decisions in response to challenges from the Canadian generic drug industry have unfairly invalidated some of the company's Canadian patents. Eli Lilly has asked for CDN$500 million as compensation for the damages it has suffered. This forum assembles experts with different perspectives on the case to sort through the various intellectual property, public health, and international law issues involved: Is the "promise utility" doctrine relied on by the Canadian courts credible? Is public health undermined or helped by this shift, which will favor the generic drug industry? Is it appropriate for international tribunals to p

On Monday, January 13, the Supreme Court will hear oral argument in an important separation-of-powers case concerning the president’s recess appointments power. Under the Constitution the president may “fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate” without going through the normal requirements of obtaining the “advice and consent” of the Senate. On January 4, 2012, when the Senate was arguably not in recess, President Obama appointed three members to fill vacant seats on the National Labor Relations Board. Noel Canning, a business adversely affected by a subsequent NLRB decision, then challenged the constitutionality of the appointments in the D.C. Circuit. The three-judge panel found that the president had exceeded his authority, as have two other appellate courts since then in separate suits. Please join us for what should be a spirited debate about the meaning and history of the recess appointments power. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

With American education seemingly stuck in neutral no matter what elementary and secondary reforms we try, policymakers are looking to younger children to improve achievement. Indeed, touting the benefits of “high-quality” programs, President Obama has proposed spending $75 billion to expand preschool to all four-year olds. But on what research basis does the argument for greatly expanding early childhood education rest? What do we know about the effectiveness of preschool? Please join us for an in-depth discussion on this important topic. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In his latest book, a wide-ranging tome covering vast areas of our law, Richard Epstein mounts a principled attack on modern Supreme Court jurisprudence and much of the legal scholarship that has grown up around it. The major disarray that infects every area of modern American life, he argues, from deficits and debt to health care, financial services, declining standards of living and more, could not have happened under the original constitutional structure, faithfully interpreted in light of changed circumstances. It arose from a profound progressive break with the classical liberal tradition that guided the drafting and interpretation of the Constitution. Please join us for what should be a spirited discussion of these fundamental issues. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In 2001, Argentina defaulted on $81 billion of debt — the largest sovereign default in history. While years later most of its creditors settled to swap their old bonds with heavily discounted new bonds, a group of holdout creditors challenged Argentina in the courts. In October 2012, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit sided with plaintiffs to rule that Argentina must treat all its creditors equally and pay owners of defaulted bonds that were issued under New York law. As the long standoff nears judicial resolution, a distinguished panel of experts will discuss the significant implications of this case for the protection of creditor rights, future debt restructuring processes, and emerging markets. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Americans have been stunned by revelations that the National Security Agency is collecting vast troves of information about ordinary citizens. But the NSA is only part of the surveillance story.Since the attacks of September 11, 2001, state and local police have formed data “fusion centers” across the country and partnered with the federal intelligence community to share a wide array of personal information in an effort to detect and prevent terrorism. New research, however, finds that this system of data gathering and sharing produces mountains of data with little or no counterterrorism value, operates under vague and inconsistent rules with little oversight or accountability, and could hinder the investigation of actual criminal or terrorism activity.Join us for a panel discussion with leading scholars on privacy and national security. Does federal support for fusion centers and suspicious activity reporting make sense? What can be done to mitigate the risks they pose to civil liberties, to prevent waste, a

George Gilder is the living author who was most quoted in President Reagan’s speeches. His books Wealth and Poverty (1981), Microcosm (1989), and Telecosm (2000) had a big impact on the way people looked at economics and technology. Now he’s back with a new analysis of capitalism that just might do the same thing. In Knowledge and Power, Gilder breaks away from the supply-side model of economics to present a new economic paradigm: the epic conflict between the knowledge of entrepreneurs on one side, and the blunt power of government on the other. The knowledge of entrepreneurs, and their freedom to share and use that knowledge, are the sparks that light up the economy and set its gears in motion. The power of government to regulate, stifle, manipulate, subsidize or suppress knowledge and ideas is the inertia that slows those gears down, or keeps them from turning at all. Steve Forbes calls Knowledge and Power “a book that will profoundly and positively reshape economics.” It should be

Purchase BookIn a process that began some 250 years ago, most of humanity has managed a great escape from grinding poverty and early death that characterized its existence for thousands of years. Professor Angus Deaton will describe the dramatic scope and speed of that progress, why we are living longer, healthier lives, and how progress has created inequalities that can have positive or negative impacts. He will also discuss measures rich countries can take to help the world’s poor, including reducing foreign aid, which has been ineffective and often harmful. Charles Kenny will provide comments based on his own research on global improvements in human well-being. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The United States maintains nearly 1,600 deployed nuclear weapons and a triad of systems — bombers, intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), and submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) — to deliver them. Current plans call for modernizing all three legs of the nuclear triad, which could cost taxpayers over $100 billion. A just-released Cato paper explains why a triad is no longer necessary. U.S. nuclear weapons policies have long rested on Cold War–era myths, and the rationales have aged badly in the two decades since the Soviet Union's demise. Two of the paper's authors, Benjamin Friedman and Christopher Preble, will discuss the origins of the nuclear triad and explain why a far smaller arsenal deployed entirely on submarines would be sufficient to deter attacks on the United States and its allies and would save roughly $20 billion annually. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.