Cato Event Podcast

It has been a dizzying year in the world of surveillance: In June, nearly two years after Edward Snowden shocked the world with unprecedented leaks revealing the scope of National Security Agency spying, Congress moved to limit the bulk collection of domestic communications data via the USA FREEDOM Act — first introduced at a Cato conference in 2013 — but how much privacy protection will the law’s reforms truly provide?Meanwhile, courts and policymakers struggle to keep up with a rapidly evolving array of high-tech threats to privacy, each posing difficult policy questions. Should encryption technologies be engineered to include back doors for government, as some law enforcement officials have proposed? How should companies respond to ever-growing demands for user data on a borderless Internet — and what consequences will the answer hold for America’s technology sector and global freedom? What tools can individuals rely on to protect themselves from intrusive states and malicious hackers? Does cybersecurity require sharing ever more information with government? Are new laws required to regulate the increasing use of cell phone location tracking by police?The Cato Institute’s Second Annual Surveillance Conference will explore these questions and more with the top scholars, litigators, intelligence officials, activists, and technologists working at the intersection of privacy, technology, and national security. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Liberal democracies such as the United States face an acute dilemma in the conduct of foreign relations. American national interests sometimes require cooperation with repressive, corrupt, or otherwise odious regimes. But close working relationships with autocratic regimes should not be undertaken lightly. Such partnerships risk compromising, or even making a mockery of, America’s values of democratic governance, civil liberties, and free markets. In their new book, Perilous Partners: The Benefits and Pitfalls of America’s Alliances with Authoritarian Regimes, Cato Institute senior fellow Ted Galen Carpenter and Cato adjunct scholar Malou Innocent contend that U.S. officials have amassed a less-than-stellar record of grappling with ethical dilemmas. When are alliances with “friendly dictators” necessary for America’s security? When are such alliances a gratuitous betrayal of fundamental American values? And when is the situation a close call? Please join the authors and two distinguished commentators for a spirited discussion of these and other relevant questions. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Zoning has shaped American cities since 1916, when New York City adopted the first comprehensive ordinance. It has remained a popular and widely used institution, particularly for homeowners wishing to protect the value of their homes. As values have soared in recent years, however, this protection has accelerated to the degree that new housing development has become unreasonably difficult and costly. The widespread Not in My Backyard (NIMBY) syndrome is driven by voters’ excessive concern about their home values and creates barriers to growth that reach beyond individual communities. Those barriers contribute to suburban sprawl, entrench income and racial segregation, retard regional immigration to the most productive cities, add to national wealth inequality, and slow the growth of the American economy. Zoning Rules, an update of Fischel’s 1985 classic book The Economics of Zoning, examines this history while offering solutions to the unintended consequences of zoning. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A heightened sense of anxiety on Europe's eastern border has renewed geopolitical concerns on the Continent. This panel will focus on the security rationale for TTIP, discuss the interplay between economic security and national defense, and describe the relative importance of geopolitical considerations to the launch and success of the TTIP. Panelists will discuss the implications of the TTIP for energy security, privacy protection, cybersecurity, NATO, and other policies at the intersection of economics and security.Moderated by: Bill Watson, Cato InstituteFran Burwell, Atlantic CouncilPhil Levy, The Chicago Council on Global AffairsPeter Rashish, Transnational Strategy Group Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Touted as the portion of the negotiations that could produce the largest economic gains, the regulatory coherence negotiations are complicated by several factors, including the level of technical detail involved, the reliance of negotiators on domestic regulators (who may have a professional interest in scuttling a deal) for expertise, and the wide disparity in approaches contemplated by U.S. and EU negotiators. Panelists will break down the negotiations and provide greater clarity with respect to the possibilities and probabilities.Moderated by: Simon Lester, Cato InstituteAlberto Alemanno, HEC Paris & NYU LawPer Altenberg, Swedish Board of TradeGreg Shaffer, University of California, Irvine School of Law Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Common to most trade negotiations are estimates of the likely economic benefits of a completed deal. Often, these estimates vary, as they are based on different assumptions in the models. Sometimes it is difficult to understand how estimates for an agreement with yet-to-be-determined provisions can have any credibility. Panelists will discuss the basics of the economic modeling that is common to estimating the benefits of trade agreements, describe how those estimates affect the negotiations, and explain divergences in the estimates of some of the most commonly referenced models.Moderated by: Hanna Norberg, TradeEconomista.comLaura Baughman, Trade PartnershipGabriel Felbermayr, Ifo InstituteGabriel Siles-Brugge, University of Manchester Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Whether a TTIP deal is achieved depends on the tenor and substance of the U.S.-EU negotiations. But those negotiations are shaped, to a great extent, by the parameters established through domestic political processes. This session will feature an interview between a host and three discussants who will focus on some of the domestic political landmines within the United States and the European Union, as well as strategies to mitigate risks and bridge political divides.Moderated by: Dan Pearson, Cato InstituteJim Kolbe, German Marshall FundEdward Alden, Council on Foreign RelationsDamien Levie, Delegation of the European Union to the United States Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Moderated by: Dan Ikenson, Cato Institute Susan Danger, American Chamber of Commerce to the European Union (AmCham EU)Nancy McLernon, Organization for International Investment Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The TTIP and other mega-regional trade negotiations have been garnering attention for both their potential to liberalize trade and their potentially adverse impacts on the existing multilateral trading system. This panel will discuss the implications of the TTIP for the World Trade Organization and its member states. It will include discussion of the prospects for multilateralization of TTIP's provisions; accession by other WTO members, the potential impact on the WTO dispute settlement body, prospects for developing countries, and the implications for U.S. and EU relations with the big economies left out of these deals — such as China and Brazil — if the TTIP succeeds in writing a new gold-standard of trade rules.Moderated by: Joakim Reiter, UN Conference on Trade and DevelopmentVinod Aggarwal, University of California, BerkeleyJoost Pauwelyn, Georgetown University Law CenterHarsha Singh, International Center for Trade and Sustainable Development Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It is clear that the first tank of gas on the road to TTIP has run out. So where do we go from here? This panel will discuss the state of the negotiations, describe what lies ahead, and ask whether the United States and the EU have bitten off more than they can chew. If the negotiations were less ambitious in scope, would a final agreement be more achievable? Are there alternative architectures worth considering? Should we abandon the "single undertaking" approach and instead aim for a series of annual or biannual agreements? Should we consider including other countries that are closely integrated with the United States and the EU — such as Canada, Mexico, and Turkey — in the negotiations? If an agreement as currently proposed is achievable, what will it take to make it happen? And after such an agreement is reached, how daunting will the ratification processes be? What will it take to get to the final stage implementation?Moderated by: Inu Barbee, Georgetown UniversityMichelle Egan, American UniversityJohn Gillingham, Harvard University Center for European StudiesGary Hufbauer, Peterson Institute Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.