Political Science 
Essential
Justice and Its Surroundings
By Anthony de Jasay: "As far as we can tell from history, there was little or no “constructed” legal order to support the “market system” when the pace of its development was at its most vigorous. It is as plausible to say that states hindered, undermined, and retarded markets, as that they helped them."
The Law
By Frédéric Bastiat: An English translation of one of Bastiat’s most famous pamphlets, written as part of his opposition to the growth of socialism in France in the 1840s and where he states that “the state is the great fiction by which everyone tries to live at the expense of everyone else”.
The Constitution of the United States of America
As the supreme law of the land, the American Constitution acts to limit the role of government to the defense of our rights against foreign and domestic threat.
The Libertarian Vote
By David Boaz and David Kirby: "The libertarian vote is in play. At some 13 percent of the electorate, it is sizable enough to swing elections. Pollsters, political strategists, candidates, and the media should take note of it."
On Liberty
By John Stuart Mill. "The sole end for which mankind are warranted, individually or collectively, in interfering with the liberty of action of any of their number, is self-protection."
What Sort of Despotism Democratic Nations Have To Fear
By Alexis de Tocqueville. "It would seem that if despotism were to be established among the democratic nations of our days, it might assume a different character; it would be more extensive and more mild; it would degrade men without tormenting them."
The Calculus of Consent
"The Calculus of Consent: Logical Foundations of Constitutional Democracy, by James M. Buchanan and Gordon Tullock, is one of the classic works that founded the subdiscipline of public choice in economics and political science. To this day the Calculus is widely read and cited, and there is still much to be gained from reading and rereading this book."-Robert D. Tollison
Public Choice Theory
By Jane S. Shaw: "Public choice takes the same principles that economists use to analyze people's actions in the marketplace and applies them to people's actions in collective decision making."
The Freedom Philosophy
This anthology includes 14 essays on the political, economic, and moral foundations of a free society. These classic writings by Leonard E. Read, Frank Chodorov, Benjamin Rogge, F. A. Harper, among others, demonstrate the superiority of individual choice and capitalism over any forms of collectivism.
Intellectuals and Socialism
"In 1949, Hayek attributed the dominant position of planning in the West to the role of intellectuals, by which he meant 'professional second-hand dealers in ideas' such as journalists and commentators."
The Purpose and Limits of Government
"With the aid of experience, this essay will examine the theory behind the Declaration’s universal insights. Its focus will be on the moral order the Declaration sketches and the place of government within that order."
The Liberty of Ancients Compared with that of Moderns
By Benjamin Constant: "The danger of modern liberty is that, absorbed in the enjoyment of our private independence, and in the pursuit of our particular interests, we should surrender our right to share in political power too easily."
Frederic Bastiat - What is Seen and What is Not Seen
There is only one difference between a bad economist and a good one: the bad economist confines himself to the visible effect; the good economist takes into account both the effect that can be seen and those effects that must be foreseen. Yet this difference is tremendous; for it almost always happens that when the immediate consequence is favorable, the later consequences are disastrous, and vice versa. Whence it follows that the bad economist pursues a small present good that will be followed by a great evil to come, while the good economist pursues a great good to come, at the risk of a small present evil.
Independent Study Guide: Political Science
Liberty Guide offers a comprehensive resource for the independent study of political science. The study guide provides access to articles and reviews, online publications, blogs, associations, book recommendations and more. This guide is an indispensable tool for aspiring students of liberty.
The Man versus the State, with Six Essays on Government, Society and Freedom
By Herbert Spencer: "This volume contains the four essays that Spencer published as The Man Versus the State in 1884 as well as five essays added by later publishers. In addition, it provides “The Proper Sphere of Government,” an important early essay by Spencer."
The Natural and Artificial Right of Property Contrasted
By Thomas Hodgskin: "In this series of letters to Lord Braugham Hodgskin distinguishes between the natural right of property (based upon Lockean principles of natural law) and the artificial right of property (which is decreed by parliament). He associated the doctrine of the artificial right of property with Benthamite reformers who were attempting to reform the English state."
On Liberty and The Subjection of Women
By John Stuart Mill: "An interesting edition from 1879 which combines On Liberty and The Subjection of Women, something which was not done again until the 1970s when the significance of Mill’s writings on women were again appreciated."
Socialism: An Economic and Sociological Analysis
By Ludwig von Mises: "This book must rank as the most devastating analysis of socialism yet penned… . An economic classic in our time." - Henry Hazlitt
The Sphere and Duties of Government
By Wilhelm von Humboldt: "Humboldt explores the role that liberty plays in individual development, discusses criteria for permitting the state to limit individual actions, and suggests ways of confining the state to its proper bounds."
The Two Treatises of Civil Government
By John Locke: "Locke’s most famous work of political philosophy began as a reply to Filmer’s defense of the idea of the divine right of kings and ended up becoming an defense of natural rights, especially property rights, and of government limited to protecting those rights."
Saving Rights Theory From Its Friends
By Tom G. Palmer, from Individual Rights Reconsidered, edited by Tibor Machan (Stanford: Hoover Institution Press, 2001)
Myths of Individualism
By Tom G. Palmer, Cato Policy Report, Vol. XVIII, No. 5 (September/October 1996)
The Writings of James Madison
"This volume contains his public papers and his private correspondence, including speeches in the First Congress and Address to the General Assembly to the People of the Commonwealth of Virginia."
The Writings of Thomas Paine
"The cause of America is in a great measure the cause of all mankind. Many circumstances have, and will arise, which are not local, but universal, and through which the principles of all lovers of mankind are affected, and in the event of which their affections are interested."
On Moral Duties
By Marcus Tullius Cicero: "This treatise, then, may be regarded as an exposition of the ethical system of the Stoics of Cicero’s time, yet with a special limitation, purpose, and adaptation."
Vices Are Not Crimes
By Lysander Spooner: "Vices are simply the errors which a man makes in his search after his own happiness. Unlike crimes, they imply no malice toward others, and no interference with their persons or property."
Recommended
Event: The Future of American Politics: the Tea Party, Rand Paul, and Young Voters
Tea parties, Rand Paul, limited-government, 10th Amendment, Millennial voters -- these are all topics that have burst forth on the public scene over the past two years. Come find out what they mean for the next election cycle, numerous policy issues, and the future of American politics. Cato scholar John Samples joins a panel to discuss these issues at an event hosted by Cato On Campus at the Cato Institute, August 20th, 2010 at 4:00p.m.
Is Toy Story 3 About the Tea Party?
In a clever article posted at Reason, David Harsanyi links the plotline of Toy Story 3 – currently the highest grossing movie of the summer – to the rise of the Tea Party movement in American culture and politics. In fact, themes of liberty seem to be appearing throughout popular culture, particularly animation and commercials. Harsanyi cites the Washington Post when he remarks that all the Founding Fathers portrayed in commercials over the past year indicate a shifting trend that once again recognizes the stand for freedom that is inherent in our culture. “It is a matter of time before concerns about liberty begin to filter into mainstream popular culture.” So to paraphrase, “Stay tuned...”
Clowns or Killers in al Qaeda?
Cato scholar Gene Healy discusses the social and political trend to spread fear about terrorists when, in fact, they are often more like clowns than real threats. He gives several examples of bumbled plots involving inflammable fertilizer, ninja rats, and suicide bomber group hugs. No matter how stupid, however, Healy notes that some plots actually work and need to be vigilantly guarded against, but urges that caution be taken when elevating extremists with labels of being masterminds or geniuses. Healy says that, “We've given al Qaeda power over us they don't deserve. When we recognize that they're often inept and clownish, we weaken their ability to sow terror.”
Libertarianism vs. Conservatism
America's Future Foundation and Students For Liberty co-hosted a debate at the Cato Institute between interns from libertarian and conservative organizations, addressing the question, "is libertarianism or conservatism a more desirable political philosophy?"
Questioning Elena Kagan
The confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan begin this week, and Cato's Ilya Shapiro suggests that the process may highlight more than just partisan wind-blowing. "For the first time in decades, the Constitution is a major issue in an election year... Americans are correctly asking: Are there any limits to government power anymore?" Shapiro offers a list of questions to be asked of Ms. Kagan to determine her views on the power and extent of the government's reach. These questions serve to, as Kagan herself wrote in 1995 regarding the nomination process, "gain knowledge and promote public understanding of what the nominee believes the court should do and how she would affect its conduct." Shapiro notes that if Kagan deflects or otherwise subverts senators' questioning, she will have failed her own standard.
It's Time America Had a Fat President
Cato vice president Gene Healy asks, "Is corpulence really a disqualification for the presidency in the land of supersized fries?" Healy wonders whether Americans would be better off with a more rotund POTUS, because "after all, some of our best have been big fellows, and lately the trim and ambitious types haven't served us so well."
Sweden: A Supermodel for America?
To the American mind there may be nothing more quintessentially Swedish than the leggy, blond supermodel. This video from reason.tv explains that there's another Swedish model that inspires almost as much admiration—the Swedish economic model.
Learn more about Sweden's efforts to reduce the size and scope of government here.
White House Press Challenges Pols with ... Squirt Guns?
Cato vice president Gene Healy notes that many D.C. reporters seem to be getting a little too cozy with the pols they’re suppose to be covering; as evidenced by the recent pool party hosted by Vice President Biden for Washington reporters. Has what used to be an adversarial relationship between the press and the power elites they cover become a parasitic love-fest?
Free E-Book: Cult of the Presidency
The Cato Institute is now offering a free e-book of Gene Healy's 'Cult of the Presidency: America's Dangerous Devotion to Executive Power.' Take advantage of the opportunity now!
(Available for a limited time.)
Stop the Federal Spending Spree
Cato budget analyst Tad DeHaven calls for action on an issue that, as he notes, has many Americans up in arms. The government has massively increased both spending and the amount of publicly held debt, to levels not seen since the end of WWII. The problem is, DeHaven remarks, that the WWII spending ended with the war but the current spending crisis is due to European-style entitlements, which will only increase over time. DeHaven states that, "at a time when citizens are warning both parties to stop their fiscally profligate ways, Republicans need to do more than just say "no."" Several congressmen have made moves in the right direction, but real leadership is needed to make real change happen.
Racism and Rand Paul
John Stossel agrees with and defends Rand Paul, who has been in the news all week, first for his primary victory in Kentucky and now for comments he made in several interviews on the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The media and many blogs, some on both sides of the political aisle, have publicly berated Paul for his view that government should not set rules that trump liberty, namely private ownership and freedom of associations. Stossel explains, saying "the clumsy fist of government cannot attack racism without stomping on the rights of individuals. The free market, as usual, will address the problem. It punishes racists."
Deficits, Debts and Unfunded Liabilities: The Consequences of Excessive Government Spending
Huge budget deficits and record levels of national debt are getting a lot of attention, but this video, narrated by former Cato intern Kelly McDonough, explains that unfunded liabilities for entitlement programs are Americas real red-ink challenge. More important, this Center for Freedom and Prosperity mini-documentary reveals that deficits and debt are symptoms of the real problem of an excessive burden of government spending.
How Bankrupt is America?
This video by www.BankruptingAmerica.org, via Reason, explains how much America owes, and also explains a way out of all the debt... Watch the two minute video for the answers.
A Plague of 'A' Students
Political satirists and Cato fellow P.J. O'Rourke says that "America has made the mistake of letting the A student run things." 'A' students assume the high levels of society that change our way of life, but everybody else drives the engine of the country. (i.e. "B students work for C students — A students teach.") The problem is that the impact of top-level decisions made by elitists is not seen for decades, when negative effects have become institutionalized. So while they seem the best suited to run our society, it may just be an impression of their fine grooming and not their actual ability. With an article that is one part humor and two parts clever insight, O'Rourke serves up a message relevant to students at all levels – from ivy leagues to the school of hard knocks.
Advice to the Tea Party
Cato government scholar John Samples, whose book 'The Struggle to Limit Government' was just released, gives 5 points of advice to anyone interested in truly limited the federal government. Samples describes how the current tea party momentum can be leveraged to reach real change by remembering that: 1) Republicans aren't always your friends, 2) Some tea partiers like big government, 3) Democrats aren't always your enemies, 4) Smaller government demands restraint abroad, and 5) Social issues are best left to the states.
Are you a Libertarian?
Many are confused what the term "libertarian" means, but David Boaz and David Kirby find that there may be a greater chance that you're a libertarian than you think. Their research shows that libertarians may be the true swing voters in the U.S., potentially comprising 14 to 23 percent of voters. While libertarians are concerned about social liberties, they currently appear to be more motivated by fiscal issues of exploding deficits and out-of-control government spending. Boaz and Kirby note that, "Libertarians are emerging as a force within U.S. politics," and say that with the current political climate leading up to the 2010 elections, "we could be hearing about a 'libertarian revolution.'"
Boaz and Kirby published a Policy Analysis further detailing their research, found here.
Taking Government to a Whole New Level
Cato chairman Robert Levy explains the new role of government that Congress has brought into existence with its expansive policies. Specifically addressing Obamacare legislation, Levy uses analogy to illustrate that the new legislation is an unprecedented advance of government into citizens' lives, and raises serious questions of its constitutionality. Government has never before been afforded authority to mandate the active economic actions of its people, but with Obamacare it does explicitly that. Levy warns, "Beware the new role for government that the political class has put on the table."
21: Is It Time to Lower the Drinking Age?
Today, we all take the drinking age for granted, but should we? In fact, the US is one of only four countries in the world with a drinking age as high as 21—the other three are Indonesia, Mongolia, and Palau. Is the policy working to reduce health and safety issues related to youthful alcohol abuse? What are the unintended consequences of alcohol prohibition for 18-20 year olds? Reason.tv went to the University of Wisconsin-Stout in Menomonie, Wisconsin to get a first-hand look at the war on underage drinking.
Event: Tucker Carlson at Georgetown
Tucker Carlson, media pro and Cato senior fellow, will be presenting a libertarian take on the Obama administration. Tucker captures audiences with wit, edgy humor and engaging ideas in his political analysis. He recently launched The Daily Caller, a political and news media site. He will be hosted by several student groups, starting around 4pm on Thursday, April 8th at Georgetown University.
Leaving Afghanistan Moves Beyond Left vs. Right
Malou Innocent, Cato foreign policy analyst, discusses the bipartisan movement to get the United States' spending under control, starting with our overseas commitments, and in Afghanistan specifically. "Concern has begun to escalate among lawmakers of both parties that this prolonged military adventure is weakening the country militarily and economically," Innocent says. Political and ideological motivations are definitely at play, as those on the left want the money currently being spent on Afghanistan to be used for spending projects at home and those on the right want the money left unspent and in the hands of tax payers, but one thing is clear: both sides of the aisle are getting serious about the need to reign in foreign engagements.
Six Reasons to Downsize the Federal Government
Over the past few decades, and the past year especially, Americans have seen their government taking more and more control of their personal lives, and that is limiting their economic prospects as well. Cato tax and budget scholar Chris Edwards presents the case for limiting the government, in the form of six instances where the public and the economy suffer at the hands of increased political involvement. Edwards contends that government intervention reorders the incentives in society, causing inefficiencies to emerge as regularities. Restricting government’s reach into the lives and economy of Americans is not just efficient, but harkens back to ideas put forth by the nation’s founding fathers.
Is the Supreme Court Afraid of the Constitution?
Cato fellow and Georgetown law professor Randy Barnett discusses how the Supreme Court recently appeared to intentionally avoid part of the Constitution. The McDonald case, which addresses the application of the Second Amendment on the State level, was heard before the Court on March 2nd. Barnett notes that while it is quite likely that the final ruling of the case will fall in favor of supporting gun rights within the states, the Court appears to be upholding one amendment of the Constitution while ignoring another, the 14th. Addressing the 14th Amendment is viewed by the Court as “opening a can of worms” and was therefore brushed aside, says Barnett, leading him to comment, "When it came to following the written Constitution, a visitor from another planet would not, I suspect, have been very impressed.”
Don't Trust Anyone under 30?
Cato VP Gene Healy writes about the Millennial Generation in his weekly Washington Examiner column. Healy sites a Pew Research Center survey that shows the generation born after 1980 is more favorably disposed to governmental intervention than any other generation. That said, there is a glimmer of hope, as Millennials tend toward greater social liberties and their allegiance to the Left is potentially shallow. In the past year, following the many attacks on liberty, Millennial support for Dems dropped significantly. All things considered, Healy portends, "If conservatives want to appeal to younger voters, they'll leave social issues to the states and the people, show the neocons the door, and focus on warding off our looming fiscal catastrophe."
Just Say No to Democracy
David Harsanyi of Reason discusses the rising sentiment, by those like columnist Paul Krugman, that there should be less barriers to making public policy. The Obama Administration seems to have thought the country was behind them in the first year, and acted accordingly. However, the American people obviously thought otherwise, as seen from events in Virgina, New Jersey and Massachusetts. Actually, the Founding Fathers saw that kind of give and take coming, and therefore installed the system of checks and balances. Harsanyi argues, therefore, that what is needed is more checks on government, not less.
Time for Question Time?
By Gene Healy: "Left to their own devices, presidents can isolate themselves in a cocoon of sycophants, even putting protesters in 'Free-Speech Zones,' where their signs can't offend the liege. The regal atmosphere of the office shields POTUS from necessary feedback. As accidental president Gerald Ford put it in his autobiography, 'Few people, with the possible exception of his wife, will ever tell a president that he is a fool.'"
Done right, Question Time could force presidents off script, puncture their air of majesty and force them to listen.
Drug Czar Should Go
By Tim Lynch: "Voters are disgusted by the reckless spending of politicians in Washington. The backlash is coming, so policymakers are now scrambling to do something, or at least be seen as doing something, about the enormous federal debt. Now is a good time for Congress to abolish government agencies that are outdated, dysfunctional or just unnecessary.
"A prime candidate for abolition is the office of the so-called 'drug czar.'"
South America: The Destructive Potential of Presidential Power
Cato VP Gene Healy discusses the imperialist tendencies of many of the United States' neighbors to the south, and draws comparisons to politics within the US. For years, Lain American nations have shifted more and more power to their chief executives, which has led to great abuses. In fact, research has shown “that presidential systems are especially bad for developing countries, because they encourage cults of personality and foster instability.” Healy says that the abuses possible do not necessarily outweigh the benefits of the separation of powers system, but rather, it is our responsibility to "watch our presidents closely, and check them when they try to slip their constitutional bonds."
Our "So-Called" Leader
David Harsanyi, of Reason, comments that as people reflect on the past decade the consensus is that it was a bad one. Fifty percent of Americans think so, including President Obama. During his State of the Union address he said, "We can't afford another so-called economic 'expansion' like the one from the last decade—what some call the 'lost decade.'" However, writes Harsanyi, the past decade brought major advances in many key areas of American life, including life expectancy, health treatments, GDP, education and others. So why is Obama lambasting the very things that brought us prosperity? That's not clear. But what is clear is that, "As always, the state of the union will be just fine—if only our so-called leaders in Washington would let it be."
Cato Institute Scholars Analyze the 2010 State of the Union Address
Cato Institute scholars address several items in President Obama's first official State of the Union Address. Scholars include Daniel J. Mitchell, Mark A. Calabria, Neal McCluskey, Michael D. Tanner, John Samples, Jim Harper and Malou Innocent.
Lessons from the Brown Victory in Massachusetts
Cato Institute Executive Vice President David Boaz and John Samples, Director of the Cato Institute's Center for Representative Government, evaluate what Scott Brown's victory in Massachusetts means for Democrats and Republicans in the near and far term. John Samples is author of the new Cato book, The Struggle to Limit Government.
Massachusetts Votes to Limit Government
David Boaz, Cato's Executive VP, reflects on the revolutionary nature of Republican Scott Brown's win in the special election for the Massachusetts Senate seat left open upon Ted Kennedy's death late last year. Boaz explains that the election demonstrates more than simply a big Red win in a Blue state. Pundits have been describing Brown's win in terms like "canary in the mine," "depth charge," "shock waves," "nuclear explosion," and "full freak-out." For Dems, this could mean that it's back to the drawing board on healthcare. But Boaz adds that they would do better to look even further, as the people of the bluest of blue states have sent quite a message: big government is not what the American people want. Is it time for some revolution?
Good News in the Rising Trade Deficit
The 'trade deficit' (U.S. exports minus U.S. imports) is most often seen in news cycles as a bad thing. However, Cato scholar Dan Ikenson discusses why the trade deficit is a positive indicator of economic growth. Furthermore, in the globalized economy, it is increasingly difficult to parse between what is domestic and what is foreign, because "Imports are contained in domestic output, and a good chunk of domestic output is exported." Ikenson adds that public opinion seems to be shifting due to the recession; therefore, time will tell if Americans continue to "reconsider their antipathy toward trade."
Who's Your Daddy, America?
Cato vice president Gene Healy, author of Cult of the Presidency, notes that "While security should be important to President Obama, nobody should think of him as America's father-protector." Following terrorist attacks and looming threats, many Americans have fallen prey to placing disproportionate authority into presidents’ hands. Healy argues that approach is not only dangerous but also conflicts with America's core value of liberty. "We live in an open society of 300 million people, and you can't eliminate risk without striking at that openness." Healy reminds that we can't have cake and eat it too, nor can should we entrust the decision making of the optimal policy balance entirely to the President.
The Low Road and the High Ground: Advocates of freedom should set a good example.
Complaints about the nastiness and viciousness of American political discourse have been around as long as such conversations have taken place, reminds Professor Steven Horwitz. But, he argues, that's no reason for defenders of liberty to use such unproductive rhetorical tricks. With Milton Friedman as a shining example, libertarians must take the high ground in political discourse using evidence, reasoned argument, and with a smile and a gentle sense of humor.
A Nation of "Criminals"
Cato VP Gene Healy looks at a current case being argued in the Supreme Court to discuss a larger issue affecting millions of Americans daily: overcriminalization. Current law defines as criminal an action that "deprive(s) another of the intangible right of honest services." Under such a vague law, Justice Antonin Scalia said that a dad taking a sick-day to go to a ballgame with his kid could be deemed a criminal. The Court case opens a can of worms regarding a legal system that seeks to hold society in check by slapping laws in place, far overreaching the 3 kind of Federal crimes stated in the Constitution: treason, piracy, and counterfeiting. Healy states that reforming the overcriminalization problem may pose threats to political vitality, but makes the strong case that it's worth it.
Meddling Policies Responsible for Stalling Recovery
Mark Calabria, Cato's Director of Financial Regulation Studies, discusses the underlying reasons for the prolonged recession. He notes that while President Obama inherited the recession, he is definitely making it worse. Calabria indicates that the current Administration's policies are what is keeping the economy from recovering. "Until employers and investors feel it is safe once again to put their businesses and investments at risk, and Washington ends its war on the productive elements of our society, we will not have significant private sector job growth."
A Reason To Be Skeptical: Lessons of ClimateGate
Reason's David Harsanyi addresses the recent disturbance in the force of the Climate Change community, following the publishing of hacked e-mails between some of the most vocal global warming alarmists. Harsanyi lists the offences that have thus far been exposed, and says that skeptics have a certain duty to call controversial and debatable "settled facts" into question. “True believers will question your intelligence, your sanity and your intentions,” he notes, but “The uglier the names get, the more anger you see, the more that science-challenged politicians push invasive legislation, the more skeptics will join you.” And in the process, rational thinking may emerge.
Government Slippery Slope Goes Vertical
Cato's David Boaz explains that the slippery slope of government power that many people are afraid of has gotten even steeper during the Obama administration. The constitutional barriers to government intervention into the private sector have been far over-reached, and the government is becoming more and more controlling - owning private companies, regulating compensation, and picking winners and losers in the market. Boaz states that, "It's time for Americans of left, right, and center to say that this is not the economic system we want."
What's a "Libertarian"?
Many consider themselves "fiscally conservative and socially liberal," and find themselves with an identity crisis in the standard two-party political system. David Boaz, Executive VP of the Cato Institute, explains that those people should identify strongly with libertarianism, if only they knew what the term meant. In fact, Boaz cites a recent Gallup poll that shows libertarian sentiment has risen to its highest level in decades. If people actually understood what a Libertarian is, it could dramatically influence the nation's political climate.
Obama, the Omni-President?
Gene Healy, Cato VP and author of 'Cult of the Presidency,' addresses the issue of President Obama's recent and expansive extension of executive power into practically everything, from auto companies to late night television appearances, Olympic committee hearings to reforming college football. Although not the only president to expand the bounds of the job description, Healy notes that, "Obama has forged new frontiers in triviality. He's the president of all things great and small: He calls for "a cure for cancer in our time" while also promising to stand behind the warranty on your new Ford Fusion." Considering Obama's be-everywhere tendency mixed with his recent failures and challenges, Healy warns that "a man who is everywhere, promising to do everything, may end up accomplishing very little, and he's sure to disappoint."
What's Michael Moore Talking About?
In his article for reason, John Stossel questions the explicit assertion of Michael Moore's new movie. Capitalism, Moore tells us, is to blame for the world's problems. Stossel doubts that Moore even knows what the term "capitalism" refers to. After all, Stossel asks, "What does the free market have to do with businesses manipulating government and strong-arming Congress for bailouts?"
Video: What is a Libertarian?
Cato executive VP David Boaz appears on the McCuistion show to discuss what it means to be a libertarian. They talk about the principles of libertarianism that are in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Among many other topics, they also discuss absolute free trade and the conflict between big government, the Federal Reserve and free markets. This 30 minute video provides a solid foundation of Libertarianism, for the avid free-marketer or anyone just curious.
The Imperial Presidency Comes in Green, Too
Cato VP Gene Healy addresses how the rising power of the executive president has embolded Obama and his administration to enact 'climate change' regulations, without waiting on congress, or the American people to decide. While one would think a legislature would have to decide this, especially in a democratic country, Healy states that's not true, becasue "existing law still leaves the executive branch enormous discretionary power."
Higgs Takes NYT, Progressives to Task
Robert Higgs, editor of the Independent Review, challenges the leftist sensibilities espoused in a New York Times article, which bemoans the decline of European socialism and decries capitalism and its supposed misdeeds. Not only critiquing the article's biased language, Higgs also provides historical examples to refute its author's claims. He makes the call, "God save us from outrageously overbearing and intolerably impudent, yet tiresomely ignorant and analytically challenged, progressive news media."
Ron Paul Interviewed on Time: Video
Congressman Ron Paul is interviewed in a video segment by Time, addressing issues of his presidential runs, auditing the Fed (the topic of Paul's new book), income taxes, drug policy, the war, and more. Time's Michael Scherer presents questions assembled from viewers across the country. Addressing a question about conspiracy theories, Paul says, "I think there's a conspiracy of bad ideas. I'd like to participate in a conspiracy of some good ideas." Paul also notes that Obama has "quieted down the left" without making some of the real policy changes on which he ran his campaign.
March on 9/12 Shows the Right on the Rise
While the crowd of 75,000+ (some estimates are much higher) that descended on the Capitol in Washington, D.C. on 9/12 had many specific aims in their protests, in his weekly column in the Washington Examiner, Cato VP Gene Healy saw this common thread: that the conservative Right is not dead. He added that their message "remains a vital part of the national conversation." Although the Right has its own inconsistencies, and leaves much to be desired, they demonstrate a distrust of big government and some warmth for a libertarian's cold heart. Healy concludes, "That rising distrust of big government — of which Saturday's march was the most vivid recent example — shows this much at least: 'The death of conservatism' has been greatly exaggerated."
Cato Video: Analyzing Pres. Obama's Schoolkids Address
Cato VP Gene Healy and education scholar Neal McCluskey respond to President Obama's address to America's school children on September 8th. They question any administration that decides to take away kids' first day of school with an event meant to promote the office of the president. McCluskey notes that the speech "has robbed kids of a day that's supposed to be centered on them." They also highlight things Obama says that stretch the bounds of the presidency, and of the federal government. Healy says that it is “important for students to read and absorb presidential speeches, but they should be encouraged to think critically about what they're hearing." They conclude that the fundamental problem is that as long as government is in charge of schools, there will be political and social conflict.
Hillary, Sotomayor to make headlines again in court
August is past, and it's time for political debate and court hearings to resume in Washington. Citizens United v. FEC is one of the first legal issues to be discussed, being argued before the Supreme Court on September 9th. Beyond the case itself lies a issue that the court has already made clear will establish new precedents in both campaign finance and free speech regulation. Mark Sherman, AP, writes that the case "took on greater significance after the justices decided to use the case to consider whether to ease restrictions, established in two earlier decisions now at issue, on how corporations and labor unions may spend money to influence elections." With Hillary, Sotomayor, McCain, and other political celebrities involved, though fall is beginning, Washington may be heating up. Expect to hear more on this issue.
Obama resorts to Big Brother tactics, erects 'straw men'
Timothy Carney, of the Washington Examiner, recently asked Obama officials who the President was referring to as “opponents” in his health reform speeches. Obama claims that those fighting against his health care reforms are “well-financed” and profit from keeping the system as-is, while has steered clear of naming names. No officials would answer Carney's questions. Carney proposes and refutes several possibilities of his own, but is left with a question: Why might the President and his administration be fostering such unsubstantiated claims? He concludes, "For Obama, a nameless enemy is more useful because it allows people to imagine whatever 'well-financed forces' they like as the enemy." He adds, "It's called demagoguery."
Is College a Scam?
In a short video, 20/20 Co-Anchor John Stossel analyzes the $75.1 billion industry of higher education and the statement by Pres. Obama that, “We expect all our children not just to graduate high school, but to graduate college and get a good-paying job.” He evaluates that claim by looking at data and interviewing students, professors, administrators and professionals. The figures of college success typically touted by public figures are based on skewed data, and it's probable that many of the people who make good money after college could have done just as well without it, and not been under all the debt.
Ted Kennedy and the Death (Hopefully) of an Era
Nick Gillespie, at Reason, comments on the life of Ted Kennedy. He explains that although Kennedy was highly effective in passing legislation over his nine terms in the Senate, it was legislation reminiscent of a worldview no longer held by many Americans, and for good reason. He does, however, note several major benefits brought on by the Senator's work. Gillespie explains that, “Because they do not fit the Ted Kennedy narrative preferred by his admirers and detractors alike, these accomplishments rarely get mentioned in stories about the late senator. But they are exactly the sort of legislation that we should be celebrating in his honor, and using as a model in today's debates..."
Obamacare: Compulsory Insurance, Unconstitutional?
Taking a look at a bit of legal history, two former White House lawyers review the legality of Obamacare in The Washington Post. They cite that, "The Constitution assigns only limited, enumerated powers to Congress and none... would support a federal mandate requiring anyone who is otherwise without health insurance to buy it." No matter the motivations behind such efforts, Congress is ultimately bound by two factors: the Constitution and the American people. One would require a constitutional amendment, the other a major social shift, which seems unlikely considering recent polls.
Reason Foundation's 23rd Annual Report on Privatization and Outsourcing
The Reason Foundation has long been a proponent for liberty, and has just released its Annual Privatization Report. From public-to-private parking meters in Chicago to "contract cities" in Georgia, this report studies current U.S. trends. Leonard Gilroy, the editor of the report, comments that "Interest in privatization is sky-high and rightly so. Now more than ever, policymakers need to study their priorities, re-examine what are really core government functions, and then tap the private sector's expertise in all of the areas where they can save taxpayer money and improve the quality of services."
Are Libertarians Switching Sidelines... Again?
Recently, David Boaz compiled the analysis of several leading poll indicators into a single op-ed. He notes that the political climate has been fluctuating significantly over the past several years. "Support for “smaller government with fewer services” has risen in the ABC News/Washington Post poll, and independents prefer it by 61 to 35 percent, a margin three times as large as a year ago," says Boaz, speculating on if the social pendulum is swinging back to the Right.
Debunking Congress' "Fantasyland"
From clunkers to cap-and-trade to the Stimulus to Health care, Cato scholar Richard Rahn assesses the mental health of Congress and the Administration's recent initiatives, offers up a diagnosis, and proposes a list of alternatives. He postulates, "These folks are telling us that their new medical system will cover more people, will cost less, give us better care and not add to the budget deficit -- hmmm. Fantasyland!"
Romney would be a great GOP presidential candidate, except for...
In his weekly column, Cato VP Gene Healy writes about the issues that draw the GOP to Romney, and also the things that should turn them away. He says that Romney was seemingly "engineered and grown in a vat for the sole purpose of securing the nation's highest office," but later adds that "Conservatives ought to take a good look at the Romney record and ask themselves whether a man of such flexible convictions is the best they can do." (Cato scholar Michael Cannon also discussed Romney in the National Review, here.)
Americans Want to Have their Cake and Eat it Too
What do cake, jugglers and frogs have in common with the American economy? John Stossel thinks quite a bit, as he links to a Barron's editorial. The article explains that "The party in power believes that Americans can eat their cake and have it, too, just as the other party did when it was in power. (The cake party is always in power.)"
Does Inequality Still Matter?
Cato scholar Will Wilkinson addresses why talk of income inequality has to a great degree disappeared from national discourse. He notes that there are many variables in evaluating income inequality, and that economic crisis complicates the issue. However, he adds that silence on the topic is also due to "the corruption of a political system in which crises are used to pay off the governing party's allies."
Cato Ads in National Media
As with the Stimulus ad, the Cato Institute continues to draw attention to the true dimensions of governmental irresponsibility. Starting the last week of July, Cato is running ads on Obama's Healthcare proposal in national newspapers and on the radio. In addition, Cato has launched a new website (healthcare.cato.org) to inform the public of the need for reform - the right, free-market and responsible reform.
Sotomayor Doesn’t Deserve a Supreme Court Seat
Senior Fellow in Constitutional Studies Ilya Shapiro offers his critique after sitting through the Sotomayor confirmation hearings. "Deciding how to vote on this is more than a simple matter of deciding whether she is “qualified” to sit on the Supreme Court," says Shapiro, adding that Sotomayor "leaves me with an abiding concern about the damage she could do to the rule of law in this country."
Staying Sane When You are the President
In his weekly newspaper column, Cato VP Gene Healy writes about the tendency of American presidents to feel a little "larger than life." From LBJ, to Nixon, to Bush, and even Obama, Healy remarks that "modern presidents... live in an atmosphere that can make even the most well-adjusted personalities intoxicated with power."
Bailouts Could Hit $24 Trillion?!
"These promises could make the implosion of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac look like a lemonade stand closing," said Cato Executive VP David Boaz. In this post he discusses an article by ABC News regarding the escalating cost of our nation's current 'bailout' mentality, and the potential price tag of such efforts.
Watch your mouth... and your thoughts!
Cato Legal Policy Analyst David Rittgers appears on the Glenn Beck show, discussing several attacks on key liberty issues: limiting free speech, criminalizing thought crime, imprisonment for blog posts, and reversing double-jeopardy.
Sarah's Swan Song
Cato Vice President Gene Healy, in his weekly column in the Washington Examiner, writes about the tendencies of the Republican party and adds perspective on how that might be changed. "It's one thing to reject liberal elitism. It's another thing to become so consumed with annoying liberals that you cleave to anyone they mock, and make presidential virtues out of shallow policy knowledge and lack of intellectual curiosity."
Wal-Mart Promoting Universal Health-Care..?
Reason Magazine editor Peter Suderman discusses Wal-Mart and health care, stating "Now you can add another corporate behemoth to the list of supporters of advocating more government involvement in health care: Wal-Mart... Why would Wal-Mart do this? In part, because it's a good PR move... it's also a good from a competitive standpoint."
King George III: Obama-esque?
Cato scholar David Boaz succinctly lists many examples of the current administration's tendency toward excessive and business-retarding tax policies. He contrasts the opressive attack on American's back pockets with the historical declaration announced by our nation's founders 233 years ago, quoting the Declaration: "He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance." Strangely familiar? You decide.
Upcoming Event: Cato Scholar Discusses New Book
Cato scholar and forein policy expert Christopher A. Preble will be discussing his book, The Power Problem: How American Military Dominance Makes Us Less Safe, Less Prosperous, and Less Free, at an event hosted by the American Conservative Defense Alliance on Wednesday, July 15, 2009. His book tour will continue throughout DC over the coming months; stay tuned for updates on these exciting opportunities!
Global Warming Debate Heating Up
Forecasting scholars Dr. Kesten C. Green and Dr. J. Scott Armstrong take on MIT's recent Global Warming report: "Policymakers and the public should be made aware that the forecasts from the MIT modellers, as well as those used by the [Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change], are merely the opinions of some scientists and computer modellers. ...The forecasting procedures were not valid and there is no reason for policymakers to take their forecasts seriously."
Audit the Fed
Republican Congressman and two time presidential candidate Ron Paul wants to audit the Federal Reserve. Arguing that Americans need to know more about the central bank, especially given the drastic increases in the size of the bank's balance sheet.
At Least Some Are Coming Around
By Daniel J. Mitchell: "The class-warfare crowd in Washington wants bigger government and higher tax rates, so it’s a bit shocking to see that a group of Northeastern Democrats are slashing tax rates. Yet that is exactly what Maine’s politicians are doing. The Governor even makes the common-sense observation (that so far has escaped President Obama’s attention) that there won’t be any jobs without investors and entrepreneurs."
Washington: Too Big To Succeed
By Lawrence W. Reed: "Certain private firms are widely believed to be “too big to fail.” So we’re in the process of handing big chunks of them over to the government. Companies that lose billions are being told what to do by an outfit that loses trillions. The question we all should be asking ourselves is this: Are we trusting our economy and our lives to a government that is too big to succeed?"
No, Really, It's Not Government-Run!
By Michael D. Tanner: "If a "co-op" is run by the federal government under rules imposed by the federal government with funding provided by the federal government, it's simply government-run health insurance by another name. Opponents of a government takeover of the health care system should not be fooled."
Have We Got a Deal for You
By George F. Will: "'What we are not doing -- what I have no interest in doing -- is running GM,' says the president who, when not firing GM's CEO, purging its board of directors and picking new members, is designing new products (imposing fuel economy requirements that will control size, weight, passenger capacity and safety). The president, overcoming his professed reluctance to run GM, resembles the journalist Don Marquis when, after a month on the wagon, he ordered a double martini and exclaimed: 'I've conquered my goddam willpower.'"
Time to Downsize the Imperial Vice-Presidency
Cato Vice President Gene Healy considers the evolution of the Vice President's powers from the legislative authority as Constitutionally prescribed to the wide latitude on executive matters given to VP's today, arguing for a return to the limited authority intended by America's founders.
Obama Is a Statist, Not a Socialist
By Edward H. Crane: "Pres. Barack Obama is not a socialist. He is a thoroughgoing statist, perhaps the worst in American history. And with Wilson, FDR, and LBJ, he's got some serious competition. Republicans in Congress lack the leadership to challenge the president's audacious power grabs. More important, they lack any serious philosophical basis for doing so."
Obama's Vision Deficit: After 100 days, the new president has revealed himself as an effective salesman of exhausted ideas
By Nick Gillespie and Matt Welch: "So here we are, 100 days into the great eight-year triumph of Hope over Change, a new Era of Really Good Feelings in which only one thing has become increasingly, even irrefutably, clear: President Barack Obama is about as visionary as the guy who invented Dippin' Dots, Ice Cream of the Future. Far from sketching out a truly forward-looking set of policies for the 21st century, as his supporters had hoped, Obama is instead serving up cryogenically tasteless and headache-inducing morsels from years gone by."
The Idiot's Bible
Mary Anastasia O'Grady writes in the Wall Street Journal: "Just days after Hugo Chávez gave President Barack Obama a copy of 'Open Veins of Latin America' in Trinidad last week, the English-language version of the book shot to the No. 2 slot on Amazon.com.... It is widely regarded in free-market circles as 'the idiot's bible.'"
Happy Earth Day? Thank Capitalism
By Jerry Taylor: "It is businessmen — not bureaucrats or environmental activists — who deserve most of the credit for the environmental gains over the past century and who represent the best hope for a Greener tomorrow"
Of Course It Was Torture
Cato Vice President, Gene Healy, recently published an article in the DC Examiner in which he writes: "Conservative legal analyst David Rivkin, one of Bush's most reliable defenders, insists that 'any fair-minded observer' would conclude that the documents prove that 'the Bush administration did not torture.' But it's hard to understand how anyone could call what the administration did by any other name."
The More Obama "Challenges," the More Education Will Look the Same
By Neal McCluskey: "The Obama Administration talks a mighty game about 'change' and taking politics out of decision making, but at least when it comes to education it seems to be all about playing politics."
In Defense of Distrust of Government
Cato Vice President Gene Healy writes: "Declining trust in government is a good thing, something that Americans of every political stripe ought to celebrate."
Filibuster Needed Now More than Ever
By Gene Healy: "Yet just a few years ago, Senate Republicans, who then fancied themselves a permanent majority, worked doggedly to undermine the filibuster. That was a dumb, short-sighted move, and today, they ought to be very glad their efforts failed."
Jeffrey Miron on the Stimulus
A friend of the Cato Institute, Professor Jeffrey Miron, writes that "Bailout 2.0, like its previous incarnation, is a dangerous gamble for the Treasury and the economy."
Keep the Banks Private
Donald Boudreaux, an advisor for Cato's Center for Trade Policy Studies, argues that "When government takes over, political meddling is sure to follow."
The Innovation Squelch: Obamanomics is bad news for American entrepreneurs.
By James Manzi: "Like the college students who stayed up late to hear Obama’s campaign speeches only to find his first significant action to be a stimulus program that will transfer about $1 trillion from them to the Baby Boomers, Silicon Valley Obama supporters may find themselves in an uncomfortable environment. A government-dominated economic era may not be an auspicious one in which to start companies that threaten big, incumbent corporations with lots of political clout."
Conservatives Need a Humbler Foreign Policy
By Gene Healy: "But there's at least one aspect of conservative doctrine that desperately needs rethinking. That's the Right's embrace of the neoconservative approach to foreign affairs, which insists that America is weak, threatened on all sides, and can only be kept safe by an aggressive policy of preventive war and democratization at gunpoint."
Cato Scholars Address Obama's First Address to Congress
President Barack Obama's first address to Congress laid out a laundry list of new spending contained within the stimulus legislation and provided hints as to what will be contained in the budget - a so-called "blueprint for America's future" - he submits to the legislature. Cato Institute scholars Chris Edwards, Jim Harper, Gene Healy, Neal McCluskey, David Rittgers, John Samples and Michael D. Tanner offer their analyses of the President's non-State-of-the-Union Address.
Naomi Klein: A Prebuttal
Who: Will Wilkinson Where: 1505 Seamans Center, University of Iowa Hosts: Co-sponsored by the Advocates of Liberty and U of I Department of Economics Description: Naomi Klein will be on campus giving a UI Lecture Committee speech in February where she will be talking about her book "Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism". This book attempts to tie Bush's corporatist big-business ecocomic policies, the Iraq War, and most other bad things to the free market ideas of Milton Friedman. Will Wilkinson will defend "neo-liberal" free markets, defend Friedman against Klein's scurrilous attacks, and reveal the many errors, factual and logical, in Klein's bestseller. In a lecture one night before Naomi Klein's appearance on campus, Wilkinson will give a talk co-sponsored by the Advocates of Liberty and the UI Department of Economics. Let the fun begin.
Obama and Presidential Power: Change or Continuity?
What: Policy Forum Where: Cato Institute Description: Featuring Louis Fisher, Specialist on the Constitution, Law Library of Congress; and Jeffrey Rosen, Professor, The George Washington University School of Law. Moderated by Gene Healy, Vice President, Cato Institute.
Ask the Expert: Michael Tanner on the 2000 US Presidential Election
Michael Tanner, Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute, reflects on the 2000 US Presidential Election, arguing that it did not create division, but rather reflected a long-standing division in the US as a result of moral and cultural debates that had been raging in the US for decades beforehand.
Cato Unbound on Partisanship
Check out this month's Cato Unbound, which features Nancy Rosenblum, Chair of the Department of Government at Harvard University, arguing for partisanship in government. Brink Lindsey, Henry Farrell, and James Fishkin will all be responding over the next few weeks.
Ask the Expert: Ben Friedman on Military Service
Cato Research Fellow in Defense and Homeland Security Studies, Ben Friedman, discusses why mandatory military service is a bad idea and the importance of maintaining a modern military structure.
We Need Cynics
By Will Wilkinson: "In his inaugural address, Barack Obama scorned "cynics" who fail to grasp that "the old arguments do not apply" now, in a time of crisis. Obama's presidency is living proof of hard-won progress in the struggle for racial equality, and his is a truly fresh voice in American politics. Yet it was politics as usual when the new President urged Americans to set aside cynicism, transcend their tired oppositions, and pull together behind his leadership."
The Road Ahead
The Obama administration comes into office with an overwhelming slate of challenges. From the economy to global warming, from the energy debate to US foreign policy, the new administration will have a host of important issues to deal with immediately after taking power. Check out this collection of studies, op-eds, podcasts, and publications by Cato's scholars on the policy decisions ahead.
Reason.TV Interviews Sallie James
"On December 19, Reason.tv's Nick Gillespie and Michael C. Moynihan sat down with Australian-born Cato Institute trade policy analyst Sallie James and memoirist and former Reason magazine staffer Sam MacDonald, whose new book is The Urban Hermit, a slacker update of sorts of Ben Franklin's Autobiography."
Nanny State Makes Poor Babysitter for Americans
Radley Balko, policy analyst for the Cato Institute, writes, "Is the "coarsening" of American culture really having all of the ill social effects conservatives say it is? The data overwhelmingly suggests not. Nearly every social indicator is trending in a direction we ought to find comforting."
America Does Not Need More Czars
Will Wilkinson, a research fellow at the Cato Institute, writes that, "In tough times like these, America does not need a dose of tragic Russian authoritarianism."
What is the DEA Smoking?
The U.S. government has recently argued that it is succeeding in the war on drugs because the price of drugs has risen, indicating a shortage of supply. However, Cato's vice president for defense and foreign policy studies, Ted Galen Carpenter points out, "The reality is that street prices for illegal drugs act like the famous observation about prices in the stock market: they will vary."
Consequences of the Bailout
Richard W. Rahn, senior fellow at the Cato Institute, writes, "Many policymakers and politicians in Washington seem to be incapable of thinking through the consequences of many of their bad ideas. When a "bailout" is given to one firm, all of its competitors are put at a disadvantage."
Five Tips to Win Any Debate
By Justin Hartfield & M. Harrison: Don't Debate the Player, Debate the Claim. Five tips to verbally own your opponent with respect, grace and heavily veiled contempt.
To Rebuild the GOP
William Niskanen, chairman emeritus and a distinguished senior economist at the Cato Institute, provides a list of principles that the GOP should adopt to regain its political influence after losing sight of its core values over the past 40 years.
Ask the Expert: Malou Innocent
Malou Innocent, Foreign Policy Analyst at the Cato Institute argues that the U.S. should not assume that India will bow to U.S. power and that sanctions provide little to no benefit when imposed.
Unsolicited Advice for Obama
By Radley Balko: "I don't agree with Obama on much (I don't agree with the current administration on much, either), so I won't make an appeal with him to compromise with the Republicans on the issues where I agree with them. Instead, here are a few recommendations - some substantive, some symbolic - of moves Obama could make that are consistent with the principles he articulated during the campaign:"
Free Political Speech in 2009?
In this video John Samples, director of Cato's Center for Representative Government, discuses the likely prospects that free political speech will encounter in the coming year.
Say No to the Auto Bailout
By Daniel J. Mitchell: "A taxpayer bailout would be a terrible mistake. It would subsidize the shoddy management practices of the corporate bureaucrats at General Motors, Ford and Chrysler, and it would reward the intransigent union bosses who have made the UAW synonymous with inflexible and anti-competitive work rules."
Understanding the Financial Crisis
This video, created by AfricanLiberty.org, clarifies the basic causes and consequences of the current financial crisis.
Obama on Drugs
Although President-elect Barack Obama portrays his pot smoking and cocaine snorting as behavior he regrets, writes Senior Editor Jacob Sullum, it would be hard for him to justify harsh treatment of drug users when he himself escaped punishment for the same actions and clearly is better off than he would have been had he been arrested. But will that experience translate into more sensible drug policies?
A Repudiation, But of What?
By Michael D. Tanner: "To suggest that in electing Barack Obama and a Democratic congressional majority, voters were choosing big government and liberalism over small government and conservatism would imply that either the Bush administration, the current Republican congressional leadership, or, for that matter, John McCain, actually supported smaller government."
Worse than Bush?
By Ted Galen Carpenter: "If President Obama adopts a security strategy confined to defending vital American interests, he will win—and deserve—the gratitude of the American people. If, on the other hand, he embraces a nebulous crusade to secure "human dignity" all over the world through the instruments of U.S. foreign aid and military power, he will undermine his own administration and ignite yet another round of public frustration about the unwillingness of political leaders to focus on America's best interests and well-being."
A Sweeping Rejection of President Bush
By David Boaz: "Left-liberal groups are quick to declare Barack Obama’s win a broad endorsement of the “progressive” agenda, their highly inaccurate name for more taxes, more spending, more entitlements, and more regulation. After a trillion-dollar increase in federal spending during the Bush administration and the biggest expansion of entitlements since Lyndon Johnson, it hardly seems likely that what’s troubling the American economy or the American people is an insufficiency of government."
Voting Schmoting
"In this irreverent look at voting, economist Gordon Tullock explains why he believes you're better off avoiding the polls altogether on Election Day."
Ask the Expert: David Boaz
Executive Vice President of the Cato Institute, David Boaz, explains how far we have come in the advancement of liberty, the threats to liberty we face today, and what we may do to preserve liberty for tomorrow.
Dismantling Al Qaeda
"Because we use the shorthand phrase 'war on terrorism' to describe the U.S. response to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, it is easy to believe that this war-like all previous wars-can be won simply by killing the enemy, wearing them down until they are broken and capitulate. Given that suicide terrorists are, by definition, undeterrable, it seems that we have no choice but to kill them before they kill us. But this is a different kind of war that requires a different paradigm."
A Critique of the National Popular Vote
"The National Popular Vote plan (NPV), introduced in more than 40 states, and adopted by 4, proposes an interstate compact to bring about direct election of the president of the United States. The proposal eliminates states as electoral districts in presidential elections by creating a national electoral district for the presidential election, thereby advancing a national political identity for the United States." Cato's Director of the Center for Representative Government, John Samples, explains why states should reject this compact.
Does Barack Obama Support Socialized Medicine?
Cato scholar Michael F. Cannon argues that "reasonable people can disagree over whether Obama's health plan would be good or bad. But to suggest that it is not a step toward socialized medicine is absurd."
Two Kinds of Change: Comparing the Candidates on Foreign Policy
By Justin Logan: "In the end, both candidates have significant flaws in their foreign policy ideas. Yet McCain's approach seems likely to amplify and repeat the errors of the Bush administration. A President McCain would promise more provocation, more intervention, and more strain on the military, the budget, and the country."
Why Opting Out Is No "Third Way"
By Will Wilkinson: "At first blush, 'libertarian paternalism' seems a linguistic miscarriage, a self-crippling idea condemned to limp aimlessly in eternal darkness on the island of misfit creeds alongside 'humanitarian sadism' and 'color-blind racism.' But that hasn't stopped Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein, law and economics superstars at the University of Chicago, from pushing the catchphrase and concept as a solution to the nation's problems for a half-decade now."
Doing Something?
By John Berlau: "But what if the bailout, as originally proposed and in its latest incarnation, would spend $700 billion of taxpayers' money and actually make the economy worse? Believe it or not, there is good evidence this may happen."
Parody Flunks Out
By Harvey Silverglate: "Political humor is no longer welcome in Academia as administrators choke the life out of parody."
A Profile in Cowardice
By Gene Healy: "In Friday's presidential debate on foreign policy (assuming the show still goes on), we can be sure that Barack Obama will hit John McCain hard for supporting what Obama has called a "dumb war" in Iraq. But in doing so, Obama has at least one major handicap to overcome: his running mate."
Bailout Raises Libertarians' Market Value
By David Montgomery: "Instead, in their handsome building on Massachusetts Avenue, faced with a proposed $700 billion government bailout of Wall Street, this town's most gung-ho libertarians and free-marketeers are reaching for their coffee and their keyboards. They are invigorated. The prospect of doom and ruination for everything they hold dear only makes them stronger."
Gene Healy on the Presidency
In this video Cato VP Gene Healy discusses the growth of the imperial presidency.
Washington Brewed the Poison
By Jonah Goldberg: "Even if the bad mortgages weren't in the system, we'd still have the hangover from the end of the housing boom. But the biggest dose of poison entered the financial bloodstream through Washington."
Organic Market
By Russ Roberts: "Both presidential candidates will promise a risk-free world with high returns. But peddling that fantasy is the cause of the current crisis. We treat our children this way--we do our best to insulate them from harm and still allow them to grow. I'd like politicians to treat me as an adult, paying the price for my recklessness and reaping a reward when I am prudent."
Why Government Grows
By Richard Ebeling: "As we enter the final weeks of the election campaign, it's time for both candidates to explain their views on the proper size and role of government."
Bottoms Up!
By Will Wilkinson: "A hundred and thirty college presidents and chancellors have signed a controversial statement calling for a new debate about the legal drinking age; their notion is to lower it from 21 to 18. Alas, college presidents are politicians of a sort, so none will take the reopened debate where it needs to go. There should be no drinking age at all."
Ticking Time Bomb Explodes, Public is Shocked
By Robert Higgs: "The failure of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, setting in motion the biggest government bailout/takeover in U.S. history, brings a grim sense of fulfillment to competent economists. After all, what did people expect, that water would flow uphill forever?"
Tax Havens Are Very Beneficial for Global Economy
"Statist politicians and international bureaucracies such as the OECD and UN routinely attack tax havens, claiming that they lead to “harmful tax competition.” "Yet at no point do critics bother to provide any evidence for this claim. This mini-documentary that I narrated for the Center for Freedom and Prosperity looks at the empirical data and scholarly research and reports that tax havens actually have a very positive impact on the global economy." - Dr. Dan Mitchell
With Friends Like These, Who Needs Enemies?: Aiding the World’s Worst Dictators
Christopher J. Coyne and Matt E. Ryan: "Despite rhetoric supporting liberal values and institutions, the governments of developed countries provide continued development and military assistance to the world’s worst dictators. This aid sustains the status quo and imposes significant costs on ordinary citizens."
Bailout Nation
By David Boaz: "But the bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is another giant step toward government control of the economy. NPR reported this morning that the government takeover “could turn out to be a smart one.” Yes, if you think nationalization of the means of production just might work."
Responsible Drug Use
"Those who support drug prohibition often do so with the premise, implicit or explicit, that life without prohibition would be marked by vastly more irresponsibility, addiction, accidents, health problems, and death. Those who favor ending drug prohibition are forced to argue, not only for an unfamiliar policy, but also against this parade of horribles. Yet are we not able to think about and manage these substances rationally and responsibly?"
The Limits of Deterrence
By Ted Galen Carpenter: "Hawkish pundits and politicians insist that if Georgia had been a member of NATO, Russia would never have dared to use military force against it. Those confident assertions are wrong on two levels, and they underscore a dangerous flaw in U.S. foreign policy."
A President, Not a Savior
By Gene Healy: "As the conventions celebrate the anointed, it's worth exploring how our long slide away from the Founding Fathers' modest notion of presidential responsibility has left us with a dysfunctional politics and a bloated imperial presidency."
Amethyst Initiative's Debate on Drinking a Welcome Alternative to Fanaticism
By Radley Balko: "It's been nearly 25 years since Congress blackmailed the states to raise the minimum drinking age to 21 or lose federal highway funding. Supporters of the law have hailed it as an unqualified success, and until recently, they've met little resistance."
Creating Prosperity
By Donald J. Boudreaux: "No politician creates prosperity. It is created by countless entrepreneurs, businesses and workers competing and cooperating within markets. For government to avoid obstructing these markets is indeed desirable -- but it does not create the resulting prosperity. To insist otherwise would be no different from my insisting that I, as a driver who did not run over Ms. Jones as she walked back from the supermarket, am responsible for the tasty dinner she cooked that evening for her family."
Drinking Age Revisited
By Brandon Arnold: "Yesterday, over a hundred college presidents called for a reexamination of the current minimum drinking age and suggested it should be lowered. This is great news and could serve as an opportunity to begin an intelligent national dialogue on improving alcohol policies."
Preliminary Conclusions From The War In Georgia
By Andrei Illarionov: "It is already possible to outline some theses related to the conflict between Russia and Georgia."
What Next for D.C.'s Gun Laws
By Robert A. Levy and David Kopel: "The Supreme Court ruled in June that provisions of Washington, D.C.'s gun laws are unconstitutional. Unfortunately, the city has responded with new regulations that are a flagrant attempt to circumvent the court's decision."
Keeping Our Cool: What to do About Global Warming
By Jim Manzi: "The loss of economic and technological development that would be required to eliminate literally all theorized climate change risk would cripple our ability to deal with virtually every other foreseeable and unforeseeable risk, not to mention our ability to lead productive and interesting lives in the meantime."
Seeing China Whole
By Steve Chapman: "Anyone contemplating the thuggish repression still prevalent under the Beijing government may find that hard to imagine. But if the last 30 years have taught us anything, it is not to underestimate China's capacity for positive change."
Bryan Caplan on Voter Irrationality
Bryan explains the Miracle of Aggregation, shows that its key assumption doesn't hold up empirically, then focuses on systematically biased beliefs about economics.
Greasing the World Economy Without Doha
By Daniel J. Ikenson: "The Doha trade round died a thousand deaths long before this week. But outside the bureaucracies in Geneva, Brussels and Washington, few are grieving because the world economy has moved on."
A Few Questions for Barack Obama
By Radley Balko: " In my last column, I posed questions to GOP presidential hopeful John McCain. This week, it's Democrat Barack Obama's turn."
Why Muslims Still Hate Us
By Patrick Basham: "An analysis of Muslim public opinion since 9/11 finds that, on balance, the "foreign policy trumps culture" argument is correct. This finding has important implications for the debate over U.S. Middle East policy and the broader war on terrorism."
The Grand Exaggerator
By Patrick Michaels: "OK, it's pretty much standard rhetoric in Washington to say that if you don't do as I say, there will be massive consequences. But to say, as Gore recently did: 'The survival of the United States of America as we know it is at risk;' and: 'The future of human civilization is at stake' — that's a bit much, even for the most faded and jaded political junkie."
Criminal Justice Unfairly Ignored on Trail
By Radley Balko: Given that enforcing federal law is one of the few presidential powers explicitly prescribed the Constitution, here are some criminal justice policy questions for John McCain and Barack Obama:
District of Columbia V. Heller: What's Next?
By Robert A. Levy: "Following a victory that some thought impossible, the advocates of the right to bear arms are asking themselves where to go next. None are more qualified to answer that question than Robert A. Levy, co-counsel in District of Columbia v. Heller, the landmark case that has permanently changed the shape of gun rights jurisprudence." - Dr. Jason Kuznicki
Crying Wolf: Are we all fascists now?
By Michael C. Moynihan: "To anyone that has attended a political demonstration, trawled a blog, or attended a Western university in the past half century, the scattershot use of 'fascist' will ring familiar. And almost as clichéd as accusing an ideological opponent of fascist sympathies is the accurate observation that such charges often demonstrate an utter lack of understanding of just what qualifies as fascist, other than 'someone I vehemently disagree with.'"
Don't Shed a Tear Over Bid for Beer
By John D. Burger: "An unsolicited bid by the Belgian-Brazilian conglomerate InBev to take over Anheuser Busch has set off a backlash among the American public. Protesters of the proposed deal are relying on patriotic slogans such as "Keep Budweiser American" in an attempt to rally the masses against the originally friendly but increasingly hostile takeover bid. I find this reaction terribly embarrassing."
Banned! Drew Carey Takes a Tour of Nanny State Nation
"Whether you love it, hate it, or have never thought about it, chances are some politician wants to ban it. 'Welcome to the Nanny State Nation,' says reason.tv host Drew Carey. 'Where the government minds your own business.'"
A Matter of Life and Death
By Karol Boudreaux: "By some estimates South Africa has taken in over three million illegal immigrants in the past year - not just people in search of better jobs, but also Zimbabweans fleeing Robert Mugabe's reign. The unfortunate byproduct of this influx of immigrants is a longstanding and mostly dormant xenophobia that has reared its head. "
D.C. Gun Ban Struck Down
"On Thursday, the Court rediscovered the Second Amendment. More than five years after six Washington, D.C. residents challenged the city’s 32-year-old ban on all functional firearms in the home, the Court held in District of Columbia v. Heller that the law is unconstitutional. Heller is merely the opening salvo in a series of litigations that will ultimately resolve what weapons and persons can be regulated and what restrictions are permissible. But because of Thursday’s decision, the prospects for reviving the original meaning of the Second Amendment are now substantially brighter." - Robert A. Levy, Co-counsel to Mr. Heller
Democrats Capitulate on FISA
By Julian Sanchez: "Democrats are trying to rationalize capitulating on surveillance and telecom immunity in the new FISA bill by calling it a compromise. It isn't."
Mexicans and Machines: Why It's Time To Lay Off NAFTA
"Like technology, trade gives us more good stuff than bad—yet Americans are likely to cheer technology and fear trade. No doubt TV talkers and White House wannabes will keep stoking our fears of foreigners until voters and viewers stop buying it—or until robots snag their jobs, too."
From Breadbasket to Basket Case
By Mary Anastasia O'Grady: "As the presidential campaign drones on, Barack Obama and the Democrats are fleshing out the promise of "change" with some specific, big-government policy proposals. Many are familiar, perhaps because they already have been tried – in Argentina."
Narcissists With Nukes
By Shawn Macomber: "Should Cato Institute Senior Editor Gene Healy's wonderfully informative, perception shifting examination of the wayward American executive, The Cult of the Presidency, receive the attention it so richly deserves, however, it may serve as a perfect literary tonic for our historical and cultural amnesia. Perhaps Healy, armed with a persuasive, good-natured outrage, will even inspire some among us toward a more narrow definition of presidential virtuousness and, by extension, broaden the conception of our own."
Government, War, and Libertarianism
By Justin Logan: "Why has the war—and post-9/11 foreign policy generally—been so controversial for libertarians? And now, more than six years after 9/11 and more than five years into the war in Iraq, what can libertarian insights tell us about how we got here and what to do next?"
McCain Talking Too Tough on Russia, China
By Malou Innocent: "There is no question that China and Russia have objectionable policies. China's deplorable human-rights record and Russia's authoritarian structure leave much to be desired. But McCain's policy prescriptions will prevent the U.S. from working with them in areas of common interest, and preclude cooperation in meeting shared threats."
Presidential Power-Tripping
By Radley Balko: " The most important issue in this November's presidential election isn't Iraq or terrorism or the economy, though it plays into all three. The most important issue is presidential power."
Drew Carey Reports on the Tragically High Cost of Building a Border Wall
"At a time when pundits and politicians of all stripes endorse securing the border between the United States and Mexico, reason.tv travels south to see what's really going on—and what the human and monetary costs are of amping up border patrols."
Our Collectivist Candidates
By David Boaz: "The real issue is that Messrs. Obama and McCain are telling us Americans that our normal lives are not good enough, that pursuing our own happiness is "self-indulgence," that building a business is "chasing after our money culture," that working to provide a better life for our families is a 'narrow concern.'"
Caesaropapism Rampant
By George F. Will: "[R]hetorical—and related—excesses are inherent in the modern presidency. This is so for reasons brilliantly explored in the year's most pertinent and sobering public affairs book, 'The Cult of the Presidency: America's Dangerous Devotion to Executive Power,' by Gene Healy of Washington's libertarian Cato Institute."
Libertarian Voters and the Libertarian Party
By David Boaz: "Perhaps most strikingly, 44 percent of voters said yes to Zogby’s question, “Would you describe yourself as fiscally conservative and socially liberal, also known as libertarian?” So there would seem to be a huge potential audience for a Libertarian candidate who could raise money, get media attention, create online buzz, and present a compelling and articulate case for peace, freedom, and limited government."
The Global Food Crisis : Political Factors
AfricanLiberty.org produced this short video about the political factors behind the Global food crisis.
Bush's Bizarro World
By Ted Galen Carpenter: "President Bush's speech to the Israeli Knesset, in which he charged that people who advocate negotiating with "terrorists and radicals" are the equivalent of craven Western leaders who sought to appease Adolf Hitler in the late 1930s, has created a political firestorm."
The Cult of the Presidency
By Gene Healy: "Our system, with its unhealthy, unconstitutional concentration of power, feeds on the atavistic tendency to see the chief magistrate as our national father or mother, responsible for our economic well-being, our physical safety, and even our sense of belonging. Relimiting the presidency depends on freeing ourselves from a mind-set one century in the making."
Kidneys for Sale: Iranian Organ Donation
By Kerry Howley: "'What can Iran teach us about good governance?' is not a question often posed in Washington. But according to Benjamin Hippen, a transplant nephrologist in North Carolina, the Iranians have managed to do something American policy makers have long thought impossible: They’ve found kidneys for every single citizen in need."
Is Real ID Really Going to Happen?
By Matthew Blake: "Little about Real ID has gone as planned. All 50 states, and the District of Columbia, were given extensions by the Dept. of Homeland Security to comply with Real ID. This extension was given despite the fact that 17 states passed resolutions saying they have no intention of ever implementing the program."
Fairness, Idealism and Other Atrocities
By P.J. O'Rourke: "Well, here you are at your college graduation. And I know what you're thinking: 'Gimme the sheepskin and get me outta here!' But not so fast. First you have to listen to a commencement speech."
Battle Over Eminent Domain Is Another Civil Rights Issue
By David T. Beito and Ilya Somin: "Few policies have done more to destroy community and opportunity for minorities than eminent domain. Some 3 to 4 million Americans, most of them ethnic minorities, have been forcibly displaced from their homes as a result of urban renewal takings since World War II."
An Elephant Never Forgets?
By Tim Lee: "Transparency is an important tool for limited government. Senior administration officials are more likely to behave themselves if they know their correspondence is subject to subpoena and will be available for the scrutiny of future historians. It’s therefore troubling that for most of the last 8 years, the Bush administration has failed to have an automated system in place for complying with the law as his predecessor did."
The Libertarian Voter
By David Boaz: "Libertarian voters played a big role in swinging control of Congress to the Democrats in 2006. Could Mr. Obama hold them against Arizona Sen. John McCain? While base voters still voted along party lines in 2006, Republicans lost big among independents. According to an analysis that David Kirby and I did, libertarians may be the largest bloc of such independent-minded swing voters."
Employers Must Pull the Trigger
By Robert A. Levy: "The owner of the property should be able to determine — for good reasons, bad reasons, or no reason at all — whether to admit gun owners, non-gun owners, neither or both. Customers, employees and guests who object may go elsewhere. That's the controlling principle."
Fuel vs. Food
By Indur M. Goklany: "In recent years, we've heard that climate change could be catastrophic for nature and humanity. But it's becoming increasingly evident that over the next few decades, climate-change policies could prove even more catastrophic."
Free Trade, Free Markets: Rating Congress
This interactive web site allows users to examine how Congress and its individual members have voted over the years on bills and amendments affecting the freedom of Americans to trade and invest in the global economy.
Politics & 'Involvement'
By Donald J. Boudreaux: "It's a mistake to applaud greater involvement in politics as if such involvement is by its very nature the best use of people's time and effort. A more serious delusion is that politics is the only -- or, at least, the most noble -- venue for each of us to get "involved" with our fellow humans."
Inequality and Excess
By Arnold Kling: "What the American people really should feel awkward and defensive about is the level of inequality and excess of political power. Instead of asking ourselves what we can do about Warren Buffett or Bill Gates, we should be asking ourselves about what we can do about the Clintons and the Spitzers. Those who want more and more power should be our biggest concern."
Real ID Act Has Been a Real Fiasco
"The big trouble is that there’s no evidence that this Draconian act, even if fully implemented, would be more than a minor inconvenience for a determined terrorist. But having all that information – including copies of birth certificates and Social Security cards – available in one database would make an irresistible target for identity thieves. And it would be a major inconvenience for millions of innocent Americans and a major expense for state governments – meaning taxpayers."
Don't 'Pull an Iraq' in Afghanistan
By Benjamin H. Friedman: "This week at a NATO summit in Bucharest, Romainia, American officials asked Europeans to send more troops to the war in Afghanistan. Leaders in both the Democratic and Republican Parties agree that higher troop levels and a deeper commitment to state-building are the path to victory in Afghanistan. But both sides are wrong, and Iraq shows why."
Immigration: The Beckham Factor
"As soccer superstar David Beckham kicks off the Los Angeles Galaxy's 2008 season, Drew Carey asks what this says about immigration in the U.S. in a new reason.tv video."
FISA Funny Business
By Julian Sanchez: " The terrorist attack had been as devastating as it was unexpected. Convinced that better intelligence was the key to preventing fresh attacks, the president resolved to seek legislation granting the executive branch broad new wiretapping powers. But he had a problem: The opposition party, which controlled Congress, was equally determined to block provisions that they saw as an affront to privacy."
Bridges Over Troubled Water
By Christopher Preble and Jeremy Lott: "War costs money too. Round the bill for the bridges to nowhere that so incensed McCain up to $500 million. Our occupation of Iraq, which often seems to be getting nowhere, is costing north of $10 billion a month. That sum could finance the construction of 40 superfluous bridges this month and 480 bridges in a year."
Is Health Care a Right?
In this podcast economics Professor Russell Roberts of George Mason University debates a physician who thinks health care is a right and the government should provide it.
Tuned Out
By Nick Gillespie and Matt Welch: "Cultural libertarians are a growing force in America. But just how do you reach them?"
Armed for Liberty
By Alan Gura and Robert A. Levy: "Imagine a right — intended, in part, as a deterrent to oppressive government — that can be exercised only when, where, and in the manner that government directs. "
Wiretapping's True Danger
By Julian Sanchez: "Without meaningful oversight, presidents and intelligence agencies can -- and repeatedly have -- abused their surveillance authority to spy on political enemies and dissenters."
Who Says the Surge Is Working?
By Terry Michael: "When it comes Iraq, neoconservative true believers have been allowed to set the bar of "success" below ground level. In this, they're aided by media siding with power instead of challenging it, all while congressional Democrats cower in their cloak rooms."
Peace Won't Come to Zimbabwe
By Marian L. Tupy and David Coltart: "The case against Mr. Mugabe and the ZANU-PF for crimes against humanity would be compelling. They have turned one of Africa's most prosperous and relatively free nations into an Orwellian nightmare. Since 1994, the average life expectancy in Zimbabwe has fallen to 34 from 57 for women and to 37 from 54 for men. Some 3,500 Zimbabweans die every week from the combined effects of HIV/AIDS, poverty and malnutrition."
Feel Safer Now?
From The Economist print edition: "After September 11th 2001, most countries beefed up security at airports and other vulnerable places. Tough-looking immigration officials no doubt made passengers feel safer, offsetting the irritation of longer queues. Yet doing something because it makes people feel good is not adequate justification. Is money devoted to counter-terrorism well spent?"
Spitzer's Hypocrisy: Worse Than You Think
By Paul Karl Lukacs: "Libertarians are understandably of two minds about L’Affaire Spitzer. On the one hand, a dedicated public servant will probably lose his job, and may be indicted, due to consensual liaisons and payments that should be a private matter completely outside the ambit of Justice Department wiretaps. On the other hand, Spitzer’s been hoisted by the moralistic petard that he can regulate any and all sexual behavior with which he disagrees, wherever it occurs. As Barabash said Monday, 'It couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy.'"
McCain's Consistent Folly on Iraq
By Steve Chapman: "If so, that may not be a plus for McCain. McCain has been consistent about Iraq, in the sense of being consistently wrong. If the American people get a long look at what he's said and a clear picture of our fortunes in Iraq, he may yearn for the days when he was being pilloried for offering "amnesty" to illegal immigrants."
Health, Africa’s struggle
By Thompson Ayodele: "Foreign aid in the form of hard currency is flowing in unprecedented quantities into the ministries of health of many African countries.
"But despite this generosity things are not improving: medical staff are demoralised, access to essential medicines remains low and corruption remains a serious problem."
Learning the Right Lessons From Iraq
By Benjamin H. Friedman and Christopher Preble: "By insisting that there was a right way to remake Iraq, we ignore the limits on our power that the enterprise has exposed and risk repeating our mistake. Deposing Saddam Hussein was relatively simple, but creating a new state to rule Iraq was beyond our grasp. Maybe the United States can improve its ability to manage occupations, but the principal lesson Iraq teaches is to avoid them."
(D) All of the Above
By Daniel Ikenson: "As an advocate of free trade, I feel slightly vindicated by reports that the Obama campaign quietly assured the Canadian government that the Senator’s strident words about NAFTA in last week’s debate were merely political rhetoric. We’ve long been saying that opposition to trade is mostly an artifice of politics. But the story begs the question: Is Obama (a) economically illiterate; (b) dishonest, or; (c) naïve. The answer is (d), all of the above."
Ohio Needs More Foreign Trade
By Daniel T. Griswold: "But tinkering with a 14-year-old trade agreement [NAFTA] will not bring an industrial renaissance to Youngstown and other Rust Belt cites. The relative decline of those regions dates back to the 1960s and 1970s, when the American economy began a transition from heavy industry toward an information-based service economy."
Bill Buckley Is Dead. Has Conservatism Died with Him?
By David Boaz: "William F. Buckley Jr., the father of the modern conservative movement, has died at 82. The bigger question is, has conservatism died, too?"
Gun Buybacks a Noble Idea That Always Misfires
By Alex Tabarrok: "Did no one running the program think to look at the price of a new gun? In fact, the first two people in line at one of the three buyback locations were gun dealers with 60 firearms packed in the trunk of their car. One wonders why the police even bothered to buy the guns from Oakland residents. Why not buy directly from gun manufacturers?"
Atlas Hugged
Brian Doherty: "As executive vice president of the Cato Institute, Boaz is one of the media's primary go-to guys on libertarian thought and policy. And in his new book, "The Politics of Freedom," a collection of his short-form journalism from the past 25 years, Boaz pushes an interesting and counterintuitive belief about American politics. The political spectrum, he argues, contains a lot more libertarians than the two major party's stances would lead you to believe."
Limits on Eavesdropping Need to Stay
By Timothy B. Lee and Gene Healy: "Modern computer technology makes the potential for the abuse of unfettered executive power much greater today. Judicial oversight is at least as important in the 21st century as it was in the 20th, and Congress should resist Bush's demand for unchecked spying powers."
NATO's West Bank Nightmare
By Ted Galen Carpenter: "Washington is sending up a trial balloon about stationing NATO troops as peacekeepers on the West Bank. The Jerusalem Post reports that former NATO supreme commander General James Jones, now the Bush administration's special envoy to the Middle East, is floating the idea to various European countries.
"It is a spectacularly bad idea."
It's an Election, Not a Revolution
By Tyler Cowen: "And if you’re still worrying about how to vote, I have two pieces of advice. First, spend your time studying foreign policy, where the president has more direct power, and the choice of a candidate makes a much bigger difference. Second, stop worrying and get back to work."
No, a President Can't Do as He Pleases
By Edward H. Crane and Robert A. Levy: "For many years, we were at risk of losing important civil liberties through unchecked transgressions by the executive branch. Maybe we are still at risk. But thanks to the media, the courts and — belatedly — an energized opposition in Congress, the administration has finally resigned itself to a semblance of congressional oversight, even if judicial scrutiny remains inadequate."
Sanctimony's Turn at Bat
By Colman McCarthy: "I see steroids, and all drugs, as an issue of personal freedom. Is there a difference between fans at big-league baseball games stoned on alcohol while cheering athletes on the base paths juiced with steroids? What's the difference between scoring with Viagra and scoring with steroids? What's the difference between people freely abusing their bodies with one drug but not another, as long as no one else is harmed and the consequences are self-sustained?"
Freedom Properly Understood
By Tom G. Palmer: "Let us hold up a standard of freedom, expressed in clear and precise terms, not modified by misleading adjectives, and promote that standard to the public, in the knowledge that with freedom – because of freedom – we enjoy prosperity, peace, dignity, knowledge, health, and so many other benefits. But as we enjoy the blessings of freedom, let us not confuse those blessings with freedom itself, for on that path we are led to lose both freedom and its blessings."
Are You Now or Have You Ever Been a Libertarian?
By David Boaz: "It’s not only avowed critics of libertarianism who mischaracterize our ideas, but even some friends who offer a subtler critique. They are people who give an overly radical definition of libertarianism so that they can present themselves as the reasonable advocates of limited government, not the crazy libertarians."
The Fear Factory
By Guy Lawson: "The FBI now has more than 100 task forces devoted exclusively to fighting terrorism. But is the government manufacturing ghosts?"
The AtomicTerrorist: Assessing the Likelyhood
By John Mueller: "A terrorist atomic bomb is commonly held to be the single most serious threat to the national security of the United States. Assessed in appropriate context, that could actually be seen to be a rather cheering conclusion because the likelihood that a terrorist group will come up with an atomic bomb seems to be vanishingly small. Moreover, the degree to which al-Qaeda--the chief demon group and one of the few terrorist groups to see value in striking the United States--has sought, or is capable of, obtaining such a weapon seems to have been substantially exaggerated."
Government, Bound or Unbound?
By Anthony de Jasay: "Collective choice starts where unanimity ends, and involves some deciding for all, where the “some” control the apparatus of government. It is the potential for some to benefit morally and materially at the expense of others that creates the bone of contention and that limits on government are meant to move out of reach."
The Surveillance Scam
By Timothy B. Lee: "In his State of the Union address, President Bush pressed Congress to quickly pass legislation to make permanent the sweeping spying powers that Congress granted last August. Those powers, which include the ability to eavesdrop on foreign-to-domestic communications without meaningful judicial oversight, were due to expire last week. Congress has passed a two-week extension of the law, but that barely gives Congress time to catch its breath before the White House resumes its campaign to make it permanent."
Super Tuesday Winners and Losers
Michael D. Tanner: "A few thoughts in the wake of last nights elections:"
The Whys of Spies
By Jacob Sullum: "Last August, panicked at the prospect of an imminent terrorist attack that could be averted only by granting the executive branch new surveillance powers, Congress passed the Protect America Act. With the law scheduled to expire this month, the Bush administration is trying to scare Congress into making the powers permanent."
Matt Welch on BHTV
Cato's own Will Wilkinson speaks with Reason Magazine chief Matt Welch to discuss his "rollicking, revealing book," McCain: The Myth of a Maverick, and the real man behind the myth.
Letter to Our European Friends
By P.J. O'Rourke: "America is in the midst of an all-important electoral campaign. But, talking to Europeans, I've discovered that there is puzzlement and misinformation on your continent about what's happening on ours. Europeans feel an understandable confusion when faced with a political system consisting of two houses of Congress and a White House, and nobody is home in any of them."
Is The Domestic Terror Threat ‘Overblown’?
By Benjamin H. Friedman: "Time and again, federal officials held press conferences to announce the break-up of a terrorist plot and vaguely described the disaster prevented. The evening news and the headlines repeated their lurid claims. Months later, the inside pages of the papers would report that the plot was not what we were told — and TV doesn’t even bother. The plans have turned out to be unfeasible or preliminary. "
Flex-Fuel Nonsense
By Jerry Taylor: "Congress can no more guarantee that fuel prices will go down from now until the end of time than it can guarantee a robust sex life for fat, balding, middle-aged men. Fuel prices are subject to supply and demand curves that do not answer to Congress — particularly in global energy markets."
Bush's Catalogue of Failure
By Steve Chapman: "Even the worst presidents prefer to focus on their successes and ignore their failures. The striking thing about President Bush's final State of the Union address is that even the successes he claims are largely fictional. Judged by his own criteria, the speech was a catalogue of failure in almost every realm."
U.S.-Imposed Border Bedlam Will Hurt Michigan
By Jim Harper: "Nobody imagined when Congress created the Department of Homeland Security that the department itself would mount the next attack on American transportation, travel and trade. But the department begins an assault this week that will do billions of dollars in damage if it is not stopped."
John McCain: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
By Michael D. Tanner: "With his victory in Florida, Sen. John McCain has become the clear front runner for the Republican nomination. It’s worthwhile, therefore, to take a closer look at what kind of president he might be."
Global Warming: Risks and Consequences
"Last fall, at the Reason in DC conference, one of the most strongly attended and memorable panels was titled "Climate Change: Risks and Consequences" and featured Lynne Kiesling, a senior lecturer in economics at Northwestern University, proprietor of the blog Knowledge Problem, and an expert in retail electricity markets; Ronald Bailey, reason's longtime science correspondent and author of, among other books, Liberation Biology: The Moral and Scientific Case for the Biotech Revolution and ECOSCAM: The False Prophets of Environmental Apocalypse; and Fred L. Smith, Jr., the founder and president of Competitive Enterprise Institute."
The False Promise of Real ID
By Jon Healey: "Thanks to the efforts of the federal government, it may soon be quite a bit harder to forge a driver's license. But that doesn't necessarily mean we'll be any less vulnerable to terrorist attacks, particularly not the kind carried out on Sept. 11, 2001."
An Unsuitable Job
By David Boaz: "With John McCain's narrow wins in New Hampshire and South Carolina making him a shaky Republican frontrunner, people have engaged in some absurdly early speculation as to whom he might choose as a running mate. One early favourite is former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, the darling of the evangelicals. But if McCain is the man he and his supporters say he is, he won't do that to the country."
Unintended Consequences
By Stephen J. Dubner and Steven D. Levitt: "But with a government that is regularly begged for relief — these days, from mortgage woes, health-care costs and tax burdens — and with every presidential hopeful making daily promises to address these woes, it might be worth encouraging the winning candidate to think twice (or even 8 or 10 times) before rushing off to do good. Because if there is any law more powerful than the ones constructed in a place like Washington, it is the law of unintended consequences."
The Foolishness of Economic 'Stimulus'
By Donald J. Boudreaux: "The best way for policymakers to foster such growth is to avoid panicking over any current economic downswing. Instead, they should focus on getting the economic fundamentals right. Such emphasis might not make things better – or even make things appear to be better – today, but it will make our tomorrows as bright as possible."
Congress Strong-Arming Baseball? That's Foul.
By Nick Gillespie and Matt Welch: "First, Major League Baseball, along with other sports leagues and private-sector ventures, simply should not be required to submit their business plans -- much less blood and urine samples -- to Congress or any other government body."
How to 'Fix' Politics? Reduce the Power of the President
By Radley Balko: "Our goal ought to be to keep as much of America as possible within the realm of civil society, and allow as little as possible to be tainted by political society. This makes elections less important. It makes politics less important. Less is at stake when we go to the polls. And less of our lives are then subject to whoever is ambitious, underhanded, or corrupt enough to emerge from the absurdities of a political campaign least scathed by the process."
Redefining Success in Iraq
By Christopher Preble: "The surge was certainly successful in one sense: it took sufficient steam out of the "get out now" movement to effectively halt congressional efforts to force a troop withdrawal. It also allowed Sen. McCain to resurrect his moribund campaign. "Thank God [Iraq]'s off the front pages," the leading proponent for the war told reporters on board the Straight Talk Express."
Ron Paul’s Ugly Newsletters
By David Boaz: "We had never seen the newsletters that have recently come to light, and I for one was surprised at just how vile they turned out to be. But we knew the company Ron Paul had been keeping, and we feared that they would have tied him to some reprehensible ideas far from the principles we hold."
The Failure of U.S. Organ Procurement Policy
By T. Randolph Beard, John D. Jackson, and David L. Kaserman: "In this article, we calculate how many lives will be lost if the United States continues in its current policy course. We do this to motivate policymakers to stop implementing one ineffectual policy action after another and attack the organ shortage with more effective weaponry in the form of financial incentives."
The Terrible 'Ifs'
By Benjamin H. Friedman: "We spend vast amounts on defenses against threats unlikely to affect Americans. Experts, defense officials, and politicians justify the expenditures by saying they are necessary to protect the public from worst case dangers. Those claims ignore what is probable and what defenses cost. They exaggerate the danger our enemies pose and strip resources from more probable dangers, making us less safe."
5 Myths About Our Ballot-Box Behavior
By Bryan Caplan: "We haven't even made it to the New Hampshire primary, but millions of Americans are already sick of hearing about the 2008 race. Bad as the torrent of news is, I find the repetition of myths about voters and voting even more galling. Whether you're arguing with friends or watching the news, you hear many claims about how American democracy works that just aren't true."
Iowa Winners and Losers
By Michael D. Tanner: "The voters of Iowa have had their say and the 2008 presidential election campaign is now officially underway. While the Iowa dust (or snow) is just beginning to settle, it’s already possible to pick out winners and losers."
McCain: The Myth of a Maverick
John McCain is one of the most familiar figures in American politics, a figure with great appeal to many. However, his concrete governing philosophy and actual track record have been left unexamined. Matt Welch’s new book McCain: The Myth of a Maverick gives a flesh-and-bones political portrait of a man onto whom people project their own ideological fantasies.
Drug Use and the Candidates
By Stanton Peele: "There has been massive drug and underage alcohol use by Americans over the years -- more than 110 million Americans, according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, have used illicit drugs. Yet the overwhelming majority of them -- like Messrs. Bush, Clinton and Obama -- have grown up to be productive citizens. Some believe there's no need to know about their youthful misconduct."
Raw Deal
By Sallie James: "Hollywood had better hope that a services liberalization deal reached Dec. 17 between the United States and the European Union holds. Without a successful resolution to the long-running Internet gambling dispute, American movies, music and software could be vulnerable to copyright infringement."
Not So Hot
By Patrick J. Michaels: "If a scientific paper appeared in a major journal saying that the planet has warmed twice as much as previously thought, that would be front-page news in every major paper around the planet. But what would happen if a paper was published demonstrating that the planet may have warmed up only half as much as previously thought?"
Regulatory Competition: A Primer
By Jennifer Smith-Bozek: "A given government jurisdiction—local, state, or federal—can provide regulatory alternatives to compete with those of another government. Regulatory competition can attract more businesses and jobs, yield regulations that are more efficient and less expensive, and thereby provide more options to consumers."
Laws Against Reason
By Jennifer Rosen: "Ever since the repeal of Prohibition, alcohol laws in this country have been a bit nutty. Take the business of bars. Some states mandate sitting, while others require standing at the bar to drink. Texans may take up to but not more than three sips of beer while standing. Some jurisdictions require the interior of public drinking establishments to be visible from the street; others specifically prohibit that."
Flunking Free Speech: The persistent threat to liberty on college campuses
By Michael C. Moynihan: "According to a dossier compiled by FIRE, incoming freshman were required to undergo "treatment" (the university's word) by residence hall apparatchiks, and forced "to adopt highly specific university-approved views on issues ranging from politics to race, sexuality, sociology, moral philosophy, and environmentalism." These young scholar-scamps in Wilmington are told solemnly that they are, according to the precepts of the university, carriers of racist original sin: '[A] racist is one who is both privileged and socialized on the basis of race by a white supremacist (racist) system. The term applies to all white people (i.e., people of European descent) living in the United States, regardless of class, gender, religion, culture or sexuality.'"
New Handshake, Same Grip
By David Nather: "For the past seven years, George W. Bush has expanded presidential power in ways that no one could have predicted when he took office. He and Vice President Dick Cheney have worn their independence — from oversight by either lawmakers or judges — as a badge of honor, necessary to keep the nation safe from another terrorist attack and restore what they have regarded as a weakened presidency. But the cost has been a poisonous friction with Congress and a growing public perception that they simply weren’t interested in checks and balances."
Guests in the Machine
By Kerry Howley: "Guest worker programs may be the best hope many of the world's poorest people have for improving their lives."
Iraqi Allies Deserve Better than Red Tape
By Malou Innocent: "Many Iraqis, desperate to earn decent wages and bring stability to their country, support American forces by working as Arabic interpreters. "Terps" are paid a modest sum, and they enable soldiers to communicate with Iraqi civilians and track down insurgents. But working with the Americans can come at a high cost."
Government Power Grabs: 'Predicting' 2008
By Radley Balko: "As the end of the year approaches, it's time for another column of government overreach predictions for the New Year. What outrageous, beyond-parody grabs at power and erosions of civil liberties will transpire in 2008?"
Restoring Habeas
By Julian Sanchez: "No American would accept the proposition that one of our citizens, having been cleared of wrongdoing by American courts, could be abducted by a foreign power and imprisoned for years, only to have his fate determined by a kangaroo court that flouted the most elementary procedural rights. The Supreme Court should not accept it from our government either."
Bill of Rights Day
By Tim Lynch: "Since today is Bill of Rights Day, it seems like an appropriate time to pause and consider the condition of the safeguards set forth in our fundamental legal charter."
Inventing Alexander Hamilton: The troubling embrace of the founder of American finance
By William Hogeland: "Now, a Hamilton revival is not only under way but an accomplished fact. Wrestling anew with Hamilton’s contributions to national politics and economics could be both fascinating and worthwhile. But Neo-Hamiltonians, like the latter-day Jeffersonians of the ’30s and ’40s, have been eagerly chopping up the past to make it conform to their political aims."
Milton Friedman with Charlie Rose
"An hour with Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman. Friedman discusses his life, his contributions to economics, the Republican Party and his view on the direction of the United States and the world in coming years."
Enabling The Kremlin
By Andrei Illarionov: "For the past few months, the official Russian media have shown little warmth for the Bush administration. Taking their cue from the Kremlin, the Russian press has been happy to denounce Washington when it criticized, even very cautiously, authoritarian actions. But Washington's own cold shoulder turned into a warm embrace this week when Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice openly endorsed President Vladimir Putin's anointed successor, Dmitry Medvedev, and effectively undercut her past statements urging Russia to adopt a more democratic course and to hold truly competitive elections."
Clinton and Giuliani Would Grab Even More Power Than Bush Did
By David Boaz: "Clinton calls herself a 'government junkie.' She says, 'There is no such thing as other people's children' and promises to work on 'redefining who we are as human beings in the post-modern age.'"
Ron Paul Unplugged
"2020's" John Stossel interviews Rep. Ron Paul, R-Tex., exclusively for ABCNEWS.com. Not your typical Republican, Paul says laws about drugs and prostitution should be left to the states. (ABC)
Ron Paul: He Won't Win the Presidency, But...
By Michael D. Tanner: "Thus, when Ron Paul talks about returning to limited constitutional government, a great many Republican primary voters sit up and take notice. For voters hungering for a return to the party of Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan rather than the party of George W. Bush, Paul's rhetoric is a breath of fresh air."
Free to Booze
With Brandon Arnold: "Cheers! Today is the 74th anniversary of the repeal of Prohibition. On December 5, 1933, Utah became the 36th state to ratify the 21st Amendment, thereby repealing the 18th Amendment and ending our 13 years as a dry nation."
Pigs Don't Fly: The Economic Way of Thinking about Politics
By Russell Roberts: "Politicians are just like the rest of us. They find it hard to do the right thing. They claim to have principles, but when their principles clash with what is expedient, they often find a way to justify their self-interest."
Carefully Plotted Course Propels Gun Case to Top
By Adam Liptak: "Robert A. Levy, a rich libertarian lawyer who has never owned a gun, helped create and single-handedly financed the case that may finally resolve the meaning of the Second Amendment."
Big Ideas Need Small Places
By Jesse Walker: "The desert republic of Molossia doesn’t appear on many maps, and it doesn’t have a seat in the United Nations. But if you drive about 18 miles northeast from Carson City, Nevada, you’ll find it."
Neoconservative Radicalism Has Reshaped Our Political Spectrum
By Glenn Greenwald: "Brooks admits what has been crystal clear for some time -- namely, that so-called "conservatives" (meaning the contemporary political "Right") no longer believe (if they ever did) that government power should be restrained in order to maximize freedom."
Kurt Loder on Technology and Freedom
"A legend for his work in Rolling Stone and at MTV, Loder is an outspoken libertarian--and a harsh critic of the nanny state in all its manifestations. In this wide-ranging conversation, Loder discusses technology, freedom, the coming collapse of traditional news media (and why that's a good thing), the misguided (and ultimately ineffective) attempt to shut down free expression, and much more."
Robert Frank's Strange Case for Taxing "The Rich"
By David R. Henderson: "At one time, critics of economic freedom justified high taxes on high-income people on the grounds of ability to pay. They at least admitted that those taxes hurt those people. But the growing availability to even the poor of goods that were only recently thought of as luxury goods has weakened that argument. Now, Robert Frank argues for higher taxes on high-income people on the grounds that it is good for them."
lib•er•tar•ian
n. 1. a person who believes in the doctrine of the freedom of the will 2. a person who believes in full individual freedom of thought, expression and action 3. a freewheeling rebel who hates wiretaps, loves Ron Paul and is redirecting politics By Nick Gillespie and Matt Welch
What if Economic Conservatives Stay Home on Election Day?
By Michael D. Tanner: "There is no doubt that religious conservatives are an important part of the Republican coalition. Yet the media, and more importantly, the candidates, seem curiously unconcerned with another discontented part of that coalition: economic, small-government conservatives."
Supremes to Hear Second Amendment Case
With Robert A. Levy: "For the first time in nearly 70 years, the Supreme Court has agreed to examine the meaning of the Second Amendment. That's good news for all Americans who would like to be able to defend themselves where they live and sleep. And it's especially good news for residents of Washington, D.C., which has been the murder capital of the nation despite an outright ban on all functional firearms since 1976."
Do More Cops Equal Less Crime?
By Steve Chapman: "If more cops really translate into safer streets, you would think local taxpayers would be more than willing to bear the expense. But if they don't think their safety is worth what it costs, why should the rest of us foot the bill?"
Why We Trade
By Russell Roberts: "We’re used to shrugging off all sorts of rhetorical gobbledygook from our politicians. But when you hear U.S. presidential candidates start to mouth off about free trade, watch your wallet: A discredited 14th-century theory of economics is enjoying a dangerous renaissance in the 2008 campaign. "
Fat on the Farm Bill
By Dr. Sallie James: The Farm Bill is the ultimate example of concentrated benefits and diffused costs. Farm subsidies are hard to justify on their merits, and even harder to justify when they go to massive corporate farms.
Undercover Economist: Your Vote Doesn't Count
The concept of a “vote” is meaningless when it comes to the market. If Benn’s claim [that the poor are better represented in a democracy than in a market] means anything at all, surely it means this: that a poor person has more influence over the service he or she receives from the government than over the service he or she receives from the market. That claim means something, but it is also hard to sustain.
Is Pornography a Catalyst of Sexual Violence?
By Steve Chapman: "In the 1980s, conservatives and feminists joined to fight a common nemesis: the spread of pornography. Unlike past campaigns to stamp out smut, this one was based not only on morality but also public safety. They argued that hard-core erotica was intolerable because it promoted sexual violence against women." Recent research suggests the opposite is true.
The Case for Restraint
By Barry R. Posen: "If more activism has not produced better policy, what is to be done? The United States should try doing less: It should pursue a grand strategy of restraint. Less is not nothing, however, meaning in essence that the United States should conceive ways to shape rather than to control international politics."
With Government Money Come Strings
By John Stossel: "f vouchers contain this potential danger, what can be done to help get kids out of dismal government schools? A better alternative is a tax credit for any parent who pays for private schooling or anyone else who helps put child through non-government schools."
Schwarzenegger Vetoes Justice
Radley Balko "looks at three criminal justice reforms passed by the California legislature that shouldn't have been all that controversial, and that would have done quite a bit to help prevent wrongful convictions. Unfortunately, the Governator vetoed all three of them."
The Political Economy of Force-Feeding
By Anthony de Jasay: "Compulsory education is delivering contestable results. Governments seek a remedy by providing more of it."
Inside Track: A Troubling Interventionist Consensus
By Christopher Preble and David Rieff: "Presidential hopefuls and policy wonks debate amongst themselves how to improve America’s effectiveness as world policeman and decry any challenge to that role, as if they believed it to be somehow inscribed in our country’s DNA. We believe that the United States should adopt a fundamentally different approach."
Drew Carey Defends Medical Marijuana
"I think it’s clear by now that the federal government needs to reclassify marijuana. People who need it should be able to get it – safely and easily," says The Price Is Right and Power of 10 host Drew Carey in a new Reason.tv video examining medical marijuana and the war on drugs.
Gillespie on Bill Moyers Journal
"Earlier this year, Reason Editor-in-Chief Nick Gillespie appeared on PBS's Bill Moyers Journal where he discussed the religious right, the Republican spending explosion, how libertarians will decide the next presidential race, radical Islam, and more."
Let's Take a New Look at African Aid
By Andrew Mwenda: "In this provocative talk, journalist Andrew Mwenda asks us to reframe the "African question" -- to look beyond the media's stories of poverty, civil war and helplessness and see the opportunities for creating wealth and happiness throughout the continent. Most important, he says, the solution to Africa's problems is not more aid."
Intellectual Property and the Property Rights Movement
By Peter S. Menell: "Should intellectual property be accorded the same protections as tangible property?"
Chill Out
By Bjorn Lomborg: "The discussion about climate change has turned into a nasty dustup, with one side arguing that we're headed for catastrophe and the other maintaining that it's all a hoax. I say that neither is right. It's wrong to deny the obvious: The Earth is warming, and we're causing it. But that's not the whole story, and predictions of impending disaster just don't stack up."
Friends Want Friends to Do Health Care
By Michael F. Cannon: "From what this former-conservative-turned-libertarian can tell, conservative thinking on health-care reform is in need of a renaissance. No, I'm not hatching some libertarian plot to subvert conservatism — unless encouraging conservatives to return to their free-market principles would somehow subvert their cause."
What Politicians Should Learn From the "Ron Paul Revolution"
David Boaz, Cato's executive vice president, weighs in on the "Ron Paul effect" with CNN's Glenn Beck.
Rand and the Right: Reflections on the 50th anniversary of Atlas Shrugged
By Brian Doherty: "Because of her opposition to New Deal government controls, novelist and philosopher Ayn Rand started off thinking of herself as a conservative. By the time her blockbuster novel, "Atlas Shrugged," was published 50 years ago this week, she'd changed her mind. She decided she was a radical -- a "radical for capitalism," that is."
Gore's Noble Challenge
By Patrick J. Michaels: "Where else -- except perhaps via the Kyoto Protocol on global warming, which Gore negotiated -- can someone accomplish so little while spending so much? But, to get there, or at least to the Demo nomination, Gore's going to have to do something he has assiduously avoided: debate."
Democracy and Other Failures
By Doug Campbell: "The theory of public choice helps explain why we get stuck with so many bad economic policies. Or does it?"
Your Place: The Final Frontier
By Jacob Sullum: "During Prohibition, making and selling liquor was illegal, but drinking it was not. With tobacco, we are moving toward the opposite situation, where it will be legal to make and sell cigarettes but not to smoke them."
The Truth About Medical Marijuana
By Steve Chapman: "The mystery is not why anyone believes cannabis can be safe and effective therapy. The mystery is why so many politicians, particularly Republican presidential candidates—Ron Paul, a physician, being the heroic exception—are unwilling to consider the possibility, or to leave the matter up to the states."
Universal Suffer-age
By Tom Elliott: "The last few years have demonstrated that rare is the place politicians are unwilling to tread in the name of public health. Universal coverage will complete this governmental mandate to control American lifestyles."
The Grand Old Spending Party: How Republicans Became Big Spenders
By Stephen Slivinski: "Republicans could reform the budget rules that stack the deck in favor of more spending. Unfortunately, senior House Republicans are fighting the changes. The GOP establishment in Washington today has become a defender of big government."
A Dangerous Position on Darfur
By Ted Galen Carpenter and Christopher Preble: "The suffering in Darfur cries out for action, but it is not clear that it calls for military action, much less that U.S. troops should lead the effort. There are dozens of countries that have far greater tangible interests at stake in Darfur than does America, and many of these countries also possess the capacity to deploy forces there."
Taiwan's Defense Budget: How Taipei's Free Riding Risks War
By Justin Logan & Ted Galen Carpenter: "It would be dubious enough for the United States to risk war with an emerging great power like China to defend a small client state, even if that state were making a serious effort to provide for its own defense. It would be even worse to incur that risk on behalf of a client state that is not willing to make a robust defense effort."
Libertarians, Beware the Rigid Reign of Rudy
By David Boaz: "Giuliani's view of power would be dangerous at any time, but especially after two terms of relentless Bush efforts to weaken the constitutional checks and balances that safeguard our liberty."
The Myth of the Rational Voter: Why Democracies Choose Bad Policies
By Bryan Caplan: "In theory, democracy is a bulwark against socially harmful policies. In practice, however, democracies frequently adopt and maintain policies that are damaging. How can this paradox be explained?"
Is the Sky Really Falling? A Review of Recent Global Warming Scare Stories
By Patrick J. Michaels: "Reports of rapid disintegration of Greenland’s ice ignore the fact that the region was warmer than it is now for several decades in the early 20th century, before humans could have had much influence on climate."
Petraeus, the Surge & History
"Many have repeated the claim that Iraq is Vietnam all over again. History never repeats itself exactly, so no example is perfect. But the American surge in Iraq bears a striking and little-noted resemblance to the Germans' ill-fated offensive in the last year of World War I."
What Can Foreign Aid Do for The World's Poor?
"Billions upon billions have been spent by governments and institutions like the World Bank over the last half-century to launch less developed countries onto a trajectory of growth. Yet despite all this money—or perhaps because of it—many countries continue to languish in abject poverty. Do we need to spend even more, faster?" William Easterly, Branko Milanovic, Deepak Lal, Jules S. Coleman, and Steve Radelet engage in a debate about the problems with foreign aid and what can be done about it.
Private Education is Good for the Poor
by James Tooley and Pauline Dixon: "Our findings from a two-year in-depth study in India, Ghana, Nigeria, and Kenya suggest that these conclusions are unwarranted. Private schools, we argue, can play—indeed, already are playing—an important, if unsung, role in reaching the poor and satisfying their educational needs."
Infidel: My Journey from Somalia to the West
By Ayaan Hirsi Ali: "I am sad that women who have inherited this social order, this civilization called the West, with its values of human rights, curiosity, trust, and integrity, might stand by and watch its decline."
Five Myths of Socialized Medicine
While our health care system is more market-oriented than in most industrialized nations, we don’t really have a free market in health care in the United States. Half the spending is done by government. Most of the rest is done by bureaucratic institutions."
The Decline and fall of the Republican Party
By Tucker Carlson: "Everyone attacks ideologues as rigid, but in fact they govern far more effectively because they actually believe something. Bush is not a deep thinker. He is not an ideological thinker, and he does not think systematically about politics and the world."
Funding the REAL ID Act: Improved Homeland Security or More Washington Waste?
Featuring: David Williams, Vice President of Policy, Citizens Against Government Waste; Andrew Moylan, Government Affairs Manager, National Taxpayers Union; and Jim Harper, Director of Information Policy Studies, Cato Institute.
Central and South Asia
What is the U.S. role in Central and South Asia? What does the future relationship between India and the United States look like? What, if anything, is to be done about secular strife in the Kashmir region? Read what Cato scholars have to say on this and related questions.
Politopia - Political Orientation Quiz
Take this interactive test and discover where do you fit in the political spectrum.
Libertarianism: A Primer
David Boaz presents the essential guidebook to the libertarian perspective, detailing its roots, central tenets, solutions to contemporary policy dilemmas, and future in American politics. He confronts head-on the tough questions frequently posed to libertarians: What about inequality? Who protects the environment? What ties people together if they are essentially self interested? A concluding section, "Are you a Libertarian?" gives readers a chance to explore the substance of their own beliefs. Libertarianism is must reading for understanding one of the most exciting and hopeful movements of our time.
Two Kinds of Order
John Marks suggests "that the fundamental differences between liberal and socialist societies arise because liberal societies depend primarily on evolutionary rationalism and spontaneous order, whereas the structures of socialist societies take constructive rationalism and designated order as their model."
The Nanny State
"Today, conservatives on the right tend to want to pass laws regarding which drugs we ingest, what we do in our bedrooms, which pictures we look at, which movies we watch, and which music we listen to. At the same time, modern liberal public health advocates on the left want to heavily regulate what we eat; how food is grown, manufactured, marketed, and sold; our alcohol intake; which prescription drugs we should have access to; and what products are safe enough for us to use. Neither side has much respect for the idea that most Americans are capable of making these kinds of decisions for themselves."
Unintended Consequences
By Rob Norton: "The law of unintended consequences, often cited but rarely defined, is that actions of people - especially of government - always have effects that are unanticipated or "unintended." Economists and other social scientists have heeded its power for centuries; for just as long, politicians and popular opinion have largely ignored it."
Rent Seeking Behind the Green Curtain
Jonathan H. Adler explains that "due to the cost and complexity of environmental rules, the environmental policy arena presents an extremely attractive target for those who wish to seek rents in Washington. Indeed, if there is one consistent interest group, it is the inside-the-beltway consultants, lobbyists, and litigators, who benefit from the continuation of a Byzantine regulatory structure, the intimate knowledge of which is incredibly valuable and rare."
The Fundamentals of Rent Seeking
By Gordon Tullock: "Once the concept of rent seeking was discovered - and defined as the outlay of resources by individuals and organizations in the pursuit of rents created by government - there followed a flourishing of research as relevant ideas began to disseminate throughout economics. It is now rare to find an issue of an economics journal that does not refer at least implicitly to the concept of rent seeking."
Bootleggers and Baptists in Retrospect
Bootleggers and Baptists explains how it is possible for seemingly public-interest arguments to serve special interests through regulation.
Public Power, Private Gain
This comprehensive report, prepared by the Institute for Justice and senior attorney Dana Berliner, carefully catalogues the extent of the problem of eminent domain abuse. It illustrates how municipal good intention, often for urban redevelopment or economic promise, can be unfairly built upon the rightful ownership of others. When projects are carried out heavy-handedly and unnecessarily, not through voluntary transaction, but coercion, the protection of property is eroded and our bedrock freedom to decide upon our own course is worn away.
Anarchy Unbound, or: Why Self-Governance Works Better than You Think
By Peter T. Leeson. "Empirical evidence, past and present, sheds light on how individuals under anarchy develop private institutional solutions to address the problems that statelessness presents," Leeson writes. "The guiding force behind these solutions is none other than Adam Smith's 'Invisible hand.' Importantly, Smith's principle applies not only to individuals' activities in the context of well-functioning institutions, but also to their activities in the development of institutions themselves."
Big Brother and National Nanny
Doug Bandow critiques President George W. Bush's creation of the Freedom Corps.
Doug Bandow on Labor and Human Resources Oversight Hearing
Doug Bandow's testimony before the Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources Oversight Hearing, May 21, 1996, on the Corporation for National Service and Community Service.
Costly Federal Agencies
Your tax dollars aren't necessarily hard at work. Eliminating these costly departments and agencies would save Americans their hard-earned dollars and help return the federal government to its constitutional limits.
Community-Run Fisheries: Avoiding the "Tragedy of the Commons"
By Donald R. Leal: "Community-Run Fisheries: Avoiding the "Tragedy of the Commons" presents case after case of communities that have effectively protected their fishing territories and preserved fish for the future."