Cato Events Podcast

By Cato InstituteNews Government News Commentary Politics

Cato Events Podcast episodes

November 10, 2008 Against Intellectual Monopoly
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1 hr 5 min
November 06, 2008 Future Imperfect: Technology and Freedom in an Uncertain World
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59 min
October 30, 2008 Back to Enron: Were the Wrong Lessons Learned for Corporate Governance and Energy Policy?

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Rob Bradley, formerly Ken Lay's speechwriter and a 16-year Enron employee, argues that the Left has incorrectly blamed capitalism for Enron. But he also believes that the Right’s take on the company's collapse has scarcely acknowledged the extent to which the mixed economy and anti-capitalist doctrines allowed the worst to get on top.
Bradley maintains that a preoccupation with the diagnostics of Enron's failure (the market did exact its revenge) has neglected the why behind the why. The systemic failure known as Enron, Bradley argues, not only exonerates free-market capitalism but also strengthens the capitalist worldview. Enron's boom and bust is the story of how company founder and chairman Ken Lay developed a sophisticated business model based on rent-seeking (political capitalism). Of particular note, Enron tried and failed to parlay climate alarmism, "energy sustainability," and social corporate responsibility into business viability.

Bradley's unique, insider interpretation of Enron has direct implications for today's debates over energy and climate policy, business ethics theory, and best business practices. William Niskanen, who holds a somewhat different view, will comment.
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1 hr 22 min
October 21, 2008 The State of Freedom in Africa
Africa is more democratic than ever before and elections more frequent, but poll results are often predetermined and much of the region remains in the hands of autocratic governments. How free are Africans in countries that have seen some degree of political or economic liberalization? Tony Leon, a longtime member and opposition leader in the South African Parliament who criticized first the National Party apartheid government and then the African National Congress government, will assess African states’ progress on the road to political, economic, and civil liberty. Ugandan journalist and political activist Andrew Mwenda will discuss ways in which Africans are fighting for their freedoms.
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1 hr 22 min
October 14, 2008 Encyclopedia of Libertarianism
The Cato Institute invites you to join us as we unveil The Encyclopedia of Libertarianism, the first comprehensive, encyclopedic treatment of the libertarian movement. Editor in Chief Ronald Hamowy, a distinguished scholar who studied under Mises, Hayek, and Friedman, has included more than 300 succinct, original articles on libertarian ideas, institutions, and thinkers. Contributors include James Buchanan, Richard Epstein, Tyler Cowen, Randy Barnett, Deirdre McCloskey, Ellen Frankel Paul, and more than 100 other scholars. This comprehensive book, years in the making, will become an indispensable guide to libertarianism in the years to come.
Our distinguished guests will discuss the place of libertarianism in world and U.S. politics, the contributions of libertarian thought, and the challenges it faces from both left and right.
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1 hr 24 min
October 08, 2008 Real Education: Four Simple Truths for Bringing America's Schools Back to Reality

One message is delivered relentlessly in American education: Everyone should go to college. And then there's Charles Murray's message: Few people either need, or are able to handle, the rigorous liberal-arts training that college is supposed to provide. But this isn't a death sentence for those who are not academically inclined. Opportunities to enter well-paying professions and lead good lives abound for these people, and the sooner that's recognized, the sooner everyone can get the education they need. Christopher B. Nelson, whose 'great books' college provides the sort of liberal arts education Murray believes is beyond most people's reach, will respond.
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1 hr 25 min
October 02, 2008 Global Terror's Central Front: Pakistan and Afghanistan
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59 min
September 22, 2008 Greatest Emancipations: How the West Abolished Slavery
For thousands of years, slavery went unchallenged in principle. Then in a single century, slavery was abolished and more than seven million slaves were freed throughout the Western hemisphere. The scope and speed of this transformation make it one of the most amazing feats in modern history. Greatest Emancipations tells this fascinating story, focusing on abolitionists in areas where slavery was most entrenched: Haiti, the British Caribbean, the United States, Cuba, and Brazil. In this lively book, Jim Powell concisely illuminates the beginnings of the abolitionist movement, then proceeds through the processes, the battles, the final victory of emancipation, and the incredible impact of its aftermath. Ultimately, Powell argues, the more violence was involved in the emancipation process, the worse the outcomes were, making a provocative case for peaceful antislavery struggles.
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1 hr 15 min
September 17, 2008 7th Annual Constitution Day: Annual B. Kenneth Simon Lecture: Is the Constitution Libertarian?
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1 hr 4 min
September 17, 2008 7th Annual Constitution Day: Panel 4: Looking Ahead: October Term 2008
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1 hr 13 min

About Cato Events Podcast

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The Cato Events Podcast brings you live recordings from the Cato Institute's events, where leading scholars, policymakers, journalists, and experts come together each week to discuss the ideas and…