Cato Recent Op-eds
The Cato Institute seeks to broaden the parameters of public policy debate to allow consideration of the traditional American principles of limited government, individual liberty, free markets and peace. Toward that goal, the Institute strives to achieve greater involvement of the intelligent, concerned lay public in questions of policy and the proper role of government.
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Truly a Turkey by Michael D. Tanner
Just in time for Thanksgiving, Sen. Harry Reid has given us a giant turkey of a health-care bill. At 2,074 pages and more than 370,000 words, it's officially "scored" as costing $849 billion over 10 years -- $400 million per page, or $2.3 million per word. But that doesn't come close to meas …
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Europe as Weltmacht by Doug Bandow
European leaders are giddy like school children before Christmas. The European Union is about to install a president and foreign minister. Then, the European elite insist, the continent can act as a true counterweight to the U.S. The European Union began decades ago as a small organization fo …
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Warning Label for Pelosicare by Michael F. Cannon
It's too bad the health care overhaul that House Democrats narrowly approved last week isn't a medical product. If it were, it would have to come with a warning label, Which could read something like this: WARNINGS: This product will increase your health insurance premiums. Millions wh …
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Will Democrats Err in Immigration Reforms? by Daniel Griswold
Immigration reform has been moving up the to-do list for President Obama and Democratic leaders in Congress. Our immigration system sorely needs an overhaul, and illegal immigration remains a perplexing problem, but the Democrats in Washington seem ready to repeat the mistakes of the past. In …
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Clueless or Despotic? by Richard W. Rahn
Do you think people who refuse to (or cannot for whatever reason) purchase health insurance should be subject to a $250,000 fine and/or five years in jail a slim majority of the U.S. House of Representatives seems to think such a draconian (and probably unconstitutional) measure is just fine because …
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The 'Stimulus' for Unemployment by Alan Reynolds
Why did the unemployment rate rise so rapidly from 7.2 per cent in January to 10.2 percent in October? It was clearly the administration's "stimulus" bill which in February provided $40 billion to greatly extend jobless benefits at no cost to the states. As Larry Summers, the president's to …
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Obama's Phony Federalism by Gene Healy
Friends of federalism cheered last month when the Obama administration reversed the Bush policy of prosecuting medical marijuana cases in states that have legalized the practice. Welcome though that change was, let's hold the applause. Not yet a year into his administration, Obama's record on …
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Health Care: A Trillion(s)-Dollar Bill by Michael D. Tanner
A trillion here, a billion there, and pretty soon we're talking real money. The House of Representatives has now passed its version of health care reform a gargantuan 2,000-page, 70-pound collection of mandates, regulations, and subsidies that may well be among the most expensive pieces of l …
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Delayed Economic Reform Killed 14.5 Million Children by Swaminathan S. Anklesaria Aiyar
The 20th anniversary of Communism's fall is a good time to estimate the costs borne by countries like India that did not become Communist but drew heavily on the Soviet model. For three decades after Independence, India levied sky-high taxes, strove for self-sufficiency, and gave the state an ever-i …
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In Era of Upheaval, Author Stood Against Storm by James A. Dorn
Nien Cheng, the author of Life and Death in Shanghai, died in Washington on November 2 at the age of 94. She was an incredibly courageous woman and the embodiment of grace and wisdom. She loved traditional Chinese culture, but her world was shattered on August 30, 1966, when Red …
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Obama Gets Inflated Grade on Education Reform by Neal McCluskey
Even as President Barack Obama's approval ratings continue to slide, folks of all political persuasions are singing his praises on education -- though he has done little of substance. In a speech last Wednesday, Obama lamented that "people have seen schools as sort of a political spoil havin …
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Guns & Butter by Doug Bandow
The president is on his first official trip to Asia. Unfortunately, his agenda appears focused on reinforcing the status quo"strengthening" the usual ties with the usual allies and forging an "enduring" American presence. Worse, the administration is dedicated to maintaining and even expanding Washi …
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Smart-Growth Plans Are a Failure in Portland by Randal O'Toole
Some people have suggested that Houston could have avoided the Ashby high-rise controversy if it had more planning and smart growth. In fact, the opposite is true: Smart-growth planning makes land-use debates even more contentious. Smart-growth planners believe that Americans live the wrong w …
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ObamaCare Is Not Pro-Choice -- for Anyone by Michael F. Cannon
"This is a health care bill, not an abortion bill," says President Obama. Au contraire, mon frre. Whatever your views on abortion, the fight over abortion in the Obama health plan illustrates perfectly why government should stay out of health care. When the government subsidizes healt …
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A Real Team of Rivals by Malou Innocent
This morning the New York Times reported that U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, Karl W. Eikenberry, expressed in writing his reservations about deploying additional troops to the country. His reason: the pervasive corruption and illegitimacy of President Hamid Karzai's regime. Concerns over the …
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Passing Bill As Bad As PelosiCare Quite An Achievement For Dems by Michael F. Cannon
House Democrats rolled three impressive feats into one when that chamber approved their health care overhaul. First, Saturday's House vote was the first time that either chamber of Congress voted albeit by a razor-thin, three-vote majority to force all Americans to purchase health insurance …
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The War on Terrorism Ends; and the Winner Is... China by Leon T. Hadar
Lee Kwan Yew, the Founding Father of Singapore and that city-state's first Prime Minister (1959-90) and its current Minister Mentor (a cabinet position he assumed when his son eldest Lee Hsien Loong was elected as Prime Minister in 2004) is one the global village's leading Wise Men; East Asia's Henr …
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Currency That Kills by Richard W. Rahn
Can you imagine how many people have physically handled your money? Do you know who has previously touched it? Did they have a flu virus or some other communicable disease that is transmitted by physical contact with an infected object? Physical paper currency is often dirty - not so much to the sig …
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Obama's Arrogance of Power by Gene Healy
Last year's financial meltdown rightfully destroyed former Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan's reputation as an infallible "wise man," but he said something wise in his 2007 memoirs, describing a constitutional amendment he'd been "pushing for years." Wrote Greenspan: "Anyone will …
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America's Alliances Are Costly Relics by Justin Logan
Over the past 60 years, the United States has accumulated a remarkable number of alliances. Today, nearly all of Europe, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Australia and a range of other nations peer out at the world from behind America's skirts. America's allies bring a multitude of liabilities and few as …
Cato Recent Op-eds
