Cato Event Podcast

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For longer than modern health insurance has existed—and nearly as long as there has been a federal income tax—the federal tax code has treated employee health benefits differently from cash compensation. Cash compensation is subject to income and payroll taxes. When employers instead pay workers with health insurance, that compensation avoids both types of tax.Economists have argued for decades that Congress should limit or eliminate the tax exclusion for employer‐​sponsored health insurance. They argue that the exclusion distorts labor and health care markets, such as by increasing medical prices and health insurance premiums. Some say the exclusion is the single most harmful federal intervention in health care. Others say it is simply a tax cut that benefits workers by making health care coverage more accessible.Please join our panel of experts to explore the impact of the tax exclusion and whether Congress should reform or end it. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The United States has expansive goals in Europe, the Middle East, and the Indo‐​Pacific, and spends nearly a trillion dollars per year on defense. Yet the strategy is still arguably insolvent. Former Acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller argues that the defense budget should be cut dramatically to support a fundamentally different grand strategy. Please join Secretary Miller and Justin Logan, Cato’s director of defense and foreign policy studies, for a conversation on defense budgets and strategy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Few 20th‐​century figures have had as much impact, and been so criticized, as Friedrich Hayek—Nobel Prize‐​winning economist, social theorist, leader of the Austrian School of Economics, and champion of classical liberalism.In Hayek: A Life, historians of economics Bruce Caldwell and Hansjoerg Klausinger draw on never‐​before‐​seen archival and family material to produce an authoritative account of Hayek’s first five decades. This includes portrayals of his early career in Vienna; his relationships in London and Cambridge; his family disputes; and definitive accounts of the creation of The Road to Serfdom and of the founding meeting of the Mont Pèlerin Society. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Senator Tim Kaine (D‑VA) will conclude the event with a keynote address covering the efforts to repeal the 1991 and 2002 Authorizations for the Use of Military Force against Iraq. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On March 20th, 2003, the United States and an allied coalition launched a bombing campaign against Iraq and began the Iraq War to overthrow Saddam Hussein. A protracted campaign led to U.S. occupation and nation‐​building long after the fall and capture of Hussein. Twenty years later, the Cato Institute invites you to join us for a discussion about the war and the state of affairs today.Our first panel examines the political climate and context surrounding the run‐​up to war in 2002–2003. To what extent was the debate surrounding the war characterized by groupthink? Does the phrase “marketplace of ideas” accurately describe that debate? What were the major factors shaping that debate, and what were their effects?Our second panel contrasts the climate of opinion in politics and media today with that of 2002–2003. Is there more debate surrounding U.S. foreign policy today than there was then? Why or why not? Are there meaningful constraints on executive action in foreign policy from Congress, the media, or elsewhere? What are the keys to a productive debate about security policy? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.