Cato Events Podcast

From Cato University 2015: Summer Seminar on Political Economy

The Cato Institute’s premier educational event, this annual program brings together outstanding faculty and participants from across the country and, often, from around the globe in order to examine the roots of our commitment to liberty and limited government, and explore the ideas and values on which the American republic was founded.

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From Cato University 2015: Summer Seminar on Political Economy

The Cato Institute’s premier educational event, this annual program brings together outstanding faculty and participants from across the country and, often, from around the globe in order to examine the roots of our commitment to liberty and limited government, and explore the ideas and values on which the American republic was founded.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

From Cato University 2015: Summer Seminar on Political Economy

The Cato Institute’s premier educational event, this annual program brings together outstanding faculty and participants from across the country and, often, from around the globe in order to examine the roots of our commitment to liberty and limited government, and explore the ideas and values on which the American republic was founded.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

From Cato University 2015: Summer Seminar on Political Economy

The Cato Institute’s premier educational event, this annual program brings together outstanding faculty and participants from across the country and, often, from around the globe in order to examine the roots of our commitment to liberty and limited government, and explore the ideas and values on which the American republic was founded.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

America’s growing national debt, now surpassing $18 trillion dollars, has dropped out of the headlines recently, but that doesn’t mean the problem has gone away. Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid alone account for 47 percent of federal spending today, a portion that will only grow larger in the future, reaching well over $26 trillion in just 10 years. Furthermore, if you fold in the unfunded liabilities of Social Security and Medicare our real indebtedness exceeds $90.5 trillion.To avoid the pressing budgetary disaster, Democrats and Republicans must come together and reform these entitlement programs. Join us for an in-depth look at the obstacles and the potential solutions to the implications of sky-high national debt and the future that doing nothing portends.

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Throughout the past five decades there have been many forecasts of impending environmental doom. These projections have universally been proven wrong. Those who have bet on human resourcefulness, however„ have almost always been correct. In his book, Bailey provides a detailed examination of the theories, studies, and assumptions currently spurring forecasts of calamity and shaping environmental policy. Breaking down the numbers, he finds that — thanks to human ingenuity and economic progress — many current ecological trends are in fact positive. Cancer rates are falling in America, world population will soon be declining, more and more land is being restored to nature, increasing wealth is leading to decreasing pollution, and the cost of clean energy will soon fall below that of fossil fuels. As Bailey demonstrates, the way to cement these trends is not to retreat into a maze of paralyzing regulation but to craft our own future through continuing economic and technological development.

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The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act — a.k.a. Obamacare — remains highly controversial and faces ongoing legal and political challenges. Polls show that by a large margin Americans remain opposed to the healthcare law. However, the question is: replace it with what?In A Better Choice: Healthcare Solutions for America, John C. Goodman provides a way out of the healthcare quagmire. Join us to hear from Mr. Goodman, as well as Cato’s own Michael F. Cannon.

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News organizations have recently documented the proliferation of synthetic or “designer” drugs that produce physical and psychological effects similar to those of traditional mind-altering substances such as marijuana, cocaine, and heroin. Policymakers have scrambled to outlaw substances that can sometimes regain legal status with a modest change in chemical makeup. Some of the new drugs even masquerade as such innocuous, perfectly legal products as air fresheners or potpourri. Can these new mind-altering substances be outlawed without resorting to tortured legal rationales? Are there alternatives to a prohibitionist strategy? Could policymakers better promote public safety by requiring strict production standards, but not attempting to ban their use? Cato senior fellow Ted Galen Carpenter will discuss his recent study on synthetic drugs, followed by a discussion with other experts on the future of drug policy in the United States.

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Human beings are social creatures by nature. It should therefore come as no surprise that many decisions occur within the context of social groups. Whether a decision involves choosing a restaurant or which nominee a political party should support, individuals within a group often accept trade-offs as long as decisions are made within established rules. How do these rules develop? How do individuals determine what trade-offs they are willing to accept? If rules and trade-offs are unique to each group, how can political scientists truly understand what people want? In his book, Choosing in Groups, Professor Michael Munger of Duke University examines these dynamics and the relevance they have for understanding political institutions and politics in general.

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Dominated by Europe's welfare states, the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has been pushing policies to enable higher taxes and bigger government. The latest example is a base erosion and profit-shifting (BEPS) initiative that would raise business tax burdens and undermine the competitiveness of American firms operating in global markets. An expert panel will explain the new OECD scheme and outline a better policy approach.

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