Cato Event Podcast

On February 26, the Supreme Court will hear oral argument in Janus v. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), a case that has the potential to overturn a 40-year-old precedent (Abood v. Detroit Board of Education) that allows public-sector unions to charge nonmembers “agency fees.” Currently, half the states have laws that enable such fees. Mark Janus—an Illinois state employee but not a union member—objects generally to being required to pay AFSCME, as well as to these funds being used to support the union’s ongoing legal fight against the governor’s policy reforms. Janus sued the union for violating his First Amendment rights by compelling these payments. In addition to their responses to that constitutional claim, AFSCME and Illinois have argued throughout the litigation that stare decisis—the prudential doctrine regarding judicial respect for settled precedent—demands that Abood be maintained. Cato filed a brief discussing the historical underpinnings of stare decisis and contending that a proper understanding of stare decisis actually demands that Abood be overturned. Please join us for a discussion of a case pitting workers’ rights against union rights and state powers—one that may accomplish the rare feat of reversing Supreme Court precedent. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How can advanced democracies modernize their economies and reform their welfare states? Drawing on the successful experiences of Sweden and Australia, Nils Karlson will explain the ways in which competing political parties can promote more dynamic economies and more flexible and open societies. He will discuss how distinct reform strategies, the development of new ideas, and policy entrepreneurship can overcome barriers to reform. John Samples will discuss the book's relevance to the rise of populism, overregulation, chronic budget deficits, and other features of many modern welfare states. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In 1994, responding to a terrible murder, Congress passed a law requiring all 50 states to set up sex offender registries. Now many states closely control where and with whom persons on the registries may live, while public maps showing offenders’ places of residence lead to social shunning and occasional harassment. They also scare parents from letting their children play outside.But does the registry make kids any safer? Lenore Skenazy, the New York newspaper columnist famous for letting her 9-year-old son ride the subway alone and founding the “anti-helicopter parenting” movement, has found that offender maps have helped shape public perceptions of a society rife with child-snatching. That led her to other questions: Who gets on the list? Could you, or someone you love, wind up on the list? How about getting off it?Lenore Skenazy has spoken around the world on the costs of irrational fears of risk to young people and is the president of the new nonprofit dedicated to overthrowing overprotection, Let Grow. Commenting on her remarks will be Vox senior reporter Dara Lind, who has written on how the registry system fits into the wider scheme of criminal justice sanctions and how it may affect recidivism. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Born into slavery in 1818, Frederick Douglass rose to become one of the nation’s foremost intellectuals—a statesman, author, lecturer, and scholar who helped lead the fight against slavery and racial oppression. But unlike some other prominent abolitionists, Douglass embraced the U.S. Constitution, insisting that it was essentially an anti-slavery document and that its guarantees for individual rights belonged to all Americans, of all races. Further, in his most popular lecture, “Self-Made Men,” Douglass spoke of people who rise through their own efforts and devotion rather than through circumstances of privilege. As the nation pauses to remember him on his bicentennial, Frederick Douglass: Self-Made Man takes a fresh look at his remarkable life and ideas and the enduring principles of equality and liberty. Weaving together history, politics, and philosophy, this new biography illuminates Douglass’s immense scholarship with his personal experiences. Please join us as we discuss how Douglass’s legacy continues to inspire today. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration exists to certify the safety and efficacy of medical technologies. Yet all too often, the FDA polices not drugs and medical devices, but speech. The agency prohibits many people from sharing truthful and non-misleading information about lawful uses of FDA-approved products. When the FDA restricts what people can say about drugs and medical devices, it violates the free-speech rights of patients and guarantees they will not learn about new treatments. Does protecting patients require the government to restrict speech? Even if the answer is yes, does the First Amendment even allow such a gag rule? Please join us as we explore these questions. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It has long been believed that the education system must assimilate new and different groups into American society. Public school assimilation efforts, however, have often been wrenching for students and families, seemingly based on an assumption that some groups will refuse to assimilate or will even rebel against prevailing norms. This worry has animated opposition to school choice and may be particularly acute when it comes to Muslims, especially since 9/11. But are fears that Islamic schools may be failing to Americanize—or worse, are teaching things antithetical to American values—borne out in reality? This new book, incorporating national survey data on Islamic schools, in-depth interviews with Islamic school leaders, and more, begins to answer that question. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Education is important, and the more of it you and everyone else get, the better. More years in school, more college degrees, means a better economy, country, and world for everyone. Right? Wrong, argues Bryan Caplan in a brand new book that challenges almost all the understandable, powerful—but perhaps ultimately damaging—assumptions people make about education. We hope you’ll join us for a lively debate about this assault on education orthodoxy, and the premiere of this new book. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A year into President Trump’s term, what can we say about the Trump Doctrine? As a candidate, Trump promised dramatic changes for American foreign policy. As president, many would agree he has delivered on that promise. In just one year, Trump withdrew from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal and the Paris climate treaty, launched cruise missiles at Syria for using chemical weapons, increased American arms sales abroad, refused to certify Iran’s compliance with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, increased the number of American forces operating in the Middle East and Afghanistan, and rattled sabers on the Korean peninsula. How do these changes square with Trump’s call for an “America First” foreign policy? How does Trump’s operating style differ from that of previous presidents? Is America safer today than it was a year ago?From the Cato Conference: The Trump Doctrine at One Year Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A year into President Trump’s term, what can we say about the Trump Doctrine? As a candidate, Trump promised dramatic changes for American foreign policy. As president, many would agree he has delivered on that promise. In just one year, Trump withdrew from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal and the Paris climate treaty, launched cruise missiles at Syria for using chemical weapons, increased American arms sales abroad, refused to certify Iran’s compliance with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, increased the number of American forces operating in the Middle East and Afghanistan, and rattled sabers on the Korean peninsula. How do these changes square with Trump’s call for an “America First” foreign policy? How does Trump’s operating style differ from that of previous presidents? Is America safer today than it was a year ago?From the Cato Conference: The Trump Doctrine at One Year Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Like the country’s overall education discussion, the national school choice debate is far too often reduced to “which schools get better test scores” and maybe even “who gets kids to graduation.” But there is so much more to education than blunt academic outcome measures, including shaping character, transmitting culture, and just plain advancing freedom.In this special, National School Choice Week Facebook Live event, join the Cato Center for Educational Freedom crew to tackle these far deeper, arguably far more important goals and desires for education. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.