Cato Events Podcast

Is it possible to reduce the risk of protectionist influence in health, safety, and environmental regulation? Should international law prohibit domestic regulations that unnecessarily inhibit trade? A new Cato Policy Analysis says the answer is "yes" and calls on policymakers and activists to be more cautious of domestic industry influence. Our distinguished panel will discuss the political origins of regulatory protectionism and consider how the United States might keep its laws and regulations free of protectionism and prevent future trade disputes.

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Is the United States moving toward legal equality between gay and straight couples? What does the U.S. Constitution have to say about the question? And should the Republican Party, long committed to opposing marriage equality, rethink its position? This panel will examine these questions as well as the shifting politics of support for marriage equality after several state initiatives passed in the 2012 elections.

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When Calvin Coolidge became president in 1923, the top personal income tax rate was 77 percent. The national debt had risen from $1.5 billion in 1916 to $33 billion in 1919 — in large part due to America’s entry into World War I. Together with his treasury secretary, Andrew Mellon, Coolidge cut the top personal income tax rate to 24 percent and dramatically reduced government spending. The economy expanded along with tax revenue, and that allowed the national debt to fall to $16 billion by 1929. Please join us for a discussion of the lessons that Coolidge administration reforms hold for the United States today.

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In Juche Strong, director Rob Montz examines the propaganda apparatus that exists in North Korea, the underlying Juche philosophy of national “self-reliance” that fuels it, and the pivotal role it plays in the continued existence of the secretive country. Montz argues that a collective sense of purpose instilled by cradle-to-grave propaganda has been key to sustaining the country, and has created a quasi-religious fervor around the Kim dynasty that persists even as North Koreans suffer under the brutal regime. Can North Korea continue indefinitely in this fashion? If so, what policies should the U.S. consider as North Korea strives to develop its nuclear program? How should the U.S. respond when North Korean leaders threaten aggression?

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The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 was intended to “promote the financial stability of the United States by improving accountability and transparency in the financial system, to end ‘too big to fail,’ to protect the American taxpayer by ending bailouts, to protect consumers from abusive financial services practices, and for other purposes.” The law is extraordinarily complex, requiring almost a dozen federal agencies to complete 398 rulemaking requirements, plus about 145 studies that will affect rulemaking. With the rulemaking process underway, there are growing concerns about the Act’s constitutionality. In particular, the Act has implications for the separation of powers, the role of congressional oversight, vagueness and unfettered regulator discretion, and due process. Does Dodd-Frank provide effective oversight by any branch of government, and how can constitutional concerns about the law’s grants of regulatory power be resolved?

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The December 2001 Bonn Agreement proclaimed the international community’s determination to “end the tragic conflict in Afghanistan and promote national reconciliation, lasting peace, stability and respect for human rights in the country.” Over a decade later, while access to health care and education has improved, the central government in Kabul remains corrupt and incapable of exerting control over its territory, the Afghan security forces are rife with criminality and internal divisions, and the Afghan Taliban and other insurgent forces still threaten the country. The mission to build an effective Afghan state and eradicate indigenous militants has resulted in a costly, time-intensive, and troop-heavy campaign, even though the United States accomplished the limited goal of incapacitating al Qaeda and punishing the Taliban only months after 9/11.

What went wrong? In autumn 2001 what could U.S. policymakers have done differently? Years later, in spring 2009, was an Iraq-like surge the right option? Should U.S. officials have ever oriented the mission around grand promises of civilian reconstruction and long-term development assistance? Could the United States have met the limited objective of disrupting al Qaeda without a broader nation-building presence? In the future, if America is attacked and finds itself in a similar situation, how should it meet the threat without getting trapped? Please join us for an in-depth discussion among experts of the Afghan war on the challenges of achieving regional stability and the lasting policy impact of America’s longest war.

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The United States government practices surprisingly comprehensive surveillance of air travel, amassing data about the comings and goings of all Americans who fly. By April 2, the Transportation Security Administration will either have begun a public comment process on its policy of putting travelers through imaging machines that can see under their clothes, or it will be in clear violation of a D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling requiring it to do so.

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The Obama administration’s recent large-scale legislative initiatives, The Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank) and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, have a significant theme in common. Both acts rely on unelected and unsupervised bodies to oversee and enact new laws — a trend that threatens both our political and our economic liberties. Our panelists will discuss the constitutionality of creating these new "super-legislative" bodies – the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Orderly Liquidation Authority, and the Independent Payment Advisory Board – and the implications for the rule of law. The panel will also discuss the possibility of reviving the "non-delegation" doctrine.

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Is the United States moving toward legal equality between gay and straight couples? What does the U.S. Constitution have to say about the question? And should the Republican Party, long committed to opposing gay marriage, rethink its position? Two of the nation’s best-known advocates on the issue — Evan Wolfson, widely seen as the master strategist behind the movement for same-sex marriage, and Ken Mehlman, a key figure in Republican rethinking of the issue, will be joined by Ilya Shapiro, who heads the Cato Institute’s amicus program and presided over the development of Cato’s briefs in Windsor and Perry.

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