June, 2010
Greetings!
Summer Kick-Off Issue
School's out for summer and intern season is in full swing. For those of you who happened to land an internship in D.C. (we'll suffer the humidity together), I hope you'll stop in to one of myriad Cato events and say hello. Aside from our usual summer duties, the Cato student programs department is busy working to arrange exciting events and opportunities geared not only to D.C. areas students, but young people all over the world.
Many of you have attended (in person or online) our monthly student lecture series co-hosted with the D.C. Forum For Freedom. On June 24th we're presenting the first lecture from our brand new Summer Intern Series. This event and subsequent reception is co-hosted by the Galen Institute, and will address an important question: How will ObamaCare affect young people? We hope that you'll join us here at the Institute or tune in online.
Progress in the fight for freedom is not always obvious, but these are exciting times for liberty lovers, and a clear opportunity exists for us to work together to promote individual liberty, limited government, free markets, and peace. Our goal at Cato On Campus is to champion the sanctity of the individual, and to be one tool, among many, that you can utilize in your efforts to promote the philosophy of liberty.
Sincerely,
Joey Coon
www.CatoCampus.org
(p.s. We have recently launched a Facebook page. "Like" it to receive updates on news, opportunities, and announcements!
News
Summer Intern Series: How Will ObamaCare Affect Young People?
Starting in 2014, the federal government will require nearly all Americans to obtain health insurance. How will that requirement, and other elements of President Obama's new health care law, affect the incomes, employment opportunities, and health care of young adults?
On June 24th, Cato On Campus is hosting an intern forum on the above topics. The health care debate has captured public attention over the past year, but rarely focuses on the impact on younger generations -- who will be the ones bearing the brunt of any new legislation. The event will host speakers from three organizations: the Cato Institute, the Galen Instituted, and the polling company, inc. Join us for this event to discuss the crossroads of health care policy and young people, and to talk to many interns from across the D.C. area at the wine and cheese reception afterwards.
The event will be broadcast live here.
Details are here and on Facebook.
BP Oil Spill: A Big Mess, in More Ways than One
Cato scholars Peter Van Doren and Jerry Taylor discuss the partisan approach to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill last month. They note that the party-line debate "illustrates the profound intellectual poverty animating our public conversation about energy policy," and that only a discussion of real trade-offs would be productive. The authors present studies that explore the valid environmental concerns, and also the benefits of cheap, ubiquitous, efficient energy sources. The American people seem to intuitively understand the more constructive approach that Taylor and Van Doren advocate. This sets regular Americans above the politicians who are supposed to represent American ideals and not just party positions. Too bad current politics don't represent constituents' expressed preferences, and merely do "more to confuse than to enlighten."
FEATURED ARTICLES
Is Revolution Upon Us?
Cato Founder and President Ed Crane writes about the growing disconnect between government officials and the American people. The political class seems to believe they have carte blanche to do as they please. While they have been turning a deaf ear to increasingly vocal expressions of frustration by the American people, if the trend in primary voting continues, our Washington elite may just be jarred awake. A wake-up call may be what politicians need to get them to realize that their actions are far from the American people's desired and constitutional role for government. That role, says Crane, is "to leave us the hell alone." This communication problem, which is in fact bipartisan, is being met by a strikingly non-partisan and strengthening force, loosely defined as the tea party. Crane notes that the plentitude of oversteps by Congress have paved the way for "a healthy, peaceful revolution."
Why's Obama so Obsessed with Kids?
Cato education scholar Neal McCluskey, in a recent blog post at Cato, discusses President Obama's article to students in Parade magazine, in which Obama voices his interest to be increasingly involved in education. However, the more students are swept into politics the more they become objects of the political machine and less the subjects of their own education. This is not an aim the president should be pursuing, as he has been charged with advancing American interests not redirecting them. McCluskey notes how Obama's messages urges student to reconsider pursuing jobs in the private, wealth generating side of the economy, and instead think about entering the ranks of tax-reliant government employment. Obama's words and actions may prove beneficial, however, as they may provide the impetus the public needs to get the feds out of education.
Why Rand Paul and Libertarians Are Right... and Wrong
Rand Paul garnered quite a bit of press following his successful primary race in Kentucky, though more negative than positive due to his comments on the Civil Rights Act on several popular television shows recently. Julian Sanchez, a research fellow at the Cato Institute, writes in Newsweek how Paul demonstrates both strengths and weaknesses of modern libertarians. When talking about social justice, libertarians need to stick to their guns but also remember that we live in a less than utopian world, where the adjustment time of free markets may exceed what is socially and politically ideal. Sanchez also strikes the point that liberals and libertarians hold more in common than they typically admit.
Is Health Care a "Right"?
Economics professor Steven Horwitz discusses the danger of declaring things like health care and education a "right." Many rights, such as free speech, force people to refrain from obstructing another's right, i.e. not doing something to others. Ensuring universal health care, however, is different because it would force people to do something for others. The problem with positive rights is that they distort incentives and do not result in successful policies without infringing on the negative rights of others. (It is impossible to provide a social program for some without taking money from others.) Horwitz explains that the libertarian end goal is the same as the leftist's: that the most people have the best health care. The difference is in how that happens.
POLICY STUDIES
When Democracy isn't the Only Way: How to Free Africa from Oppression and Underdevelopment
Policy Analysis: 'The State of Liberal Democracy in Africa: Resurgence or Retreat?'
By Tony Leon
Africa has long suffered economic underdevelopment. Plagued by corrupt politics, challenging seasons and environments, and misunderstanding by the West, Africa has produced some of the world's most troubled nations; it has also shown some amazing transformations -- both good and bad. In a regional analysis, Cato scholar and former member of South Africa's Parliament Tony Leon shows how there is more to freedom and prosperity than just democracy. Providing policy considerations for the continent, Leon says, "African reformers should focus on building free societies characterized by the separation of powers, checks and balances, an independent media and judiciary, restriction on presidential power, term limits, and so on." Leon provides African case studies of both positive and negative examples of reforms in Africa.
Resolving the War Between the U.S. and Mexico
Economic Development Bulletin: 'Mexico's Failed Drug War'
By Jorge Castaneda
Former Mexican foreign minister and Cato scholar, Jorge Castaneda, explores Mexico's drug policy, declaring it an utter failure. Mexico today is filled with violence and corruption, which many cite is due to the drug trade. However, as Castaneda notes, the historical context of these problems in Mexico is unknown, as Mexico has only recently developed a structure of social institutions. Castaneda outlines the reasons for Mexico's War on Drugs and how it's being waged. Then, he presents policy considerations, taken in light of what is feasible policy in the neighboring United States. Castaneda concludes that "Mexico is paying an enormous price to fight a war which is going nowhere, which we are not winning, which we cannot win, and which the United States does not want to fight in its own territory, but wants others to fight elsewhere. We should find other solutions with the United States, not against the United States."