Cato Daily Podcast

As Ireland ponders cannabis legalization, Paul Meany suggests that the debate is an opportunity to more clearly establish that individuals are morally entitled to make these kinds of decisions for themselves. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

War in Ukraine has supposedly brought China and Russia closer together. Facts on the ground make that narrative less compelling. Eric Gomez comments on the recent meeting between Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Federal agencies are already swimming in classified documents, and most of that secrecy is unwarranted. The problem promises to get worse. Patrick Eddington detail the scope of the problem and how it ought to be addressed. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Central bank digital currencies are still not widely understood, but that's not stopping governments from moving ahead with the new technology. Nick Anthony is coauthor of a new Cato Institute paper exposing some of the myths and risks of CBDCs. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Presidents are known to make rosy assumptions when they propose budgets to Congress. How realistic are they? Cato's Adam Michel comments on the recent White House budget proposal. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When are your words of mere encouragement to a friend criminal under federal law? Tommy Berry details a case that holds serious implications for freedom of speech. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Congressional anger at the popular app TikTok could be better aimed at making Americans' data more secure from snoopers and hostile foreign governments. Cato's Jennifer Huddleston and Will Duffield discuss the recent Congressional hearing on TikTok. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Congress wants to promote transparency in public schooling, but its means are dubious. Neal McCluskey discusses the House-passed "parents bill of rights." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Securities and Exchange Commission leadership seems to believe that some big changes to how trades get executed will better protect retail traders. Jennifer Schulp says it's not clear retail traders are currently poorly served. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Getting certain members of Congress to sign off on big ticket legislation sometimes means cutting some deals that mitigate the impact of your bigger goals. In the case of electric vehicle subsidies, Scott Lincicome says the negative impacts are typical for industrial policy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In Shielded: How the Police Became Untouchable, author Joanna Schwartz details the myriad ways police have been immunized or otherwise protected from the consequences of violating Americans' rights. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When policymakers pursue “equality,” which equality should they pursue? Deirdre McCloskey believes neither "equality of outcome" nor "equality of opportunity" is a great option. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Psychedelics show enormous promise in the treatment of PTSD and depression. Those treatments are largely unavailable domestically to veterans and others who might be helped. Call it a casualty of the War on Drugs. Jesse Gould runs the Heroic Hearts Project to help overcome those hurdles for veterans who might benefit from psychedelic treatment. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How does immigration affect the public treasury? In most scenarios, that effect is positive. Alex Nowrasteh is coauthor of the new paper, "The Fiscal Impact of Immigration in the United States." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What are the big takeaways from the insights of the long career of Austrian economist Israel Kirzner? Economist Peter Boettke has some ideas. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It took 30 years and one dedicated young man to get New York to throw out its ban on pinball. Pinball: The Man Who Saved the Game tells the story of Roger Sharpe, a journalist at GQ and a pinball aficionado. Austin and Meredith Bragg are the film's directors. The film is in theaters and available for streaming today. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Fears of artificial intelligence have been goosed recently with the emergence of services like ChatGPT that can deliver longform coherent text addressing fairly specific prompts. Cato's Will Duffield says many of the fears it has inspired are unfounded. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Shareholders are getting hosed by the failure of Silicon Valley Bank, but depositors ought to be more on the hook for losses than, say, depositors at other banks. Norbert Michel discusses the bad precedent set by the FDIC. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In his new book, Shelter from the Storm, Cato's Mark Calabria details his time as head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency during one of the most turbulent times for housing finance. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nigeria's experience with central bank digital currencies should give pause to advocates for the privacy killing monetary innovation. Cato's Nick Anthony comments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.