Cato Event Podcast

Throughout history, kings and emperors have promised “freedoms” to their people. Yet these freedoms were really only permissions handed down from on high. The American Revolution inaugurated a new vision: People have basic rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and government must ask permission from them. Sadly, our modern bureaucratic society has turned back the clock, transforming America into a nation where our freedoms — the right to speak freely, to earn a living, to own a gun, to use private property, even to take medicine to save one’s own life — are again treated as privileges the government may grant or withhold at will. In this new book,Timothy Sandefur examines the history of the distinction between rights and privileges that played such a crucial role in the American experiment, and the fight ahead to regain our freedoms. Illustrated with dozens of real-life examples — including many cases he himself litigated — Sandefur shows how treating freedoms as government-created privileges undermines our Constitution and betrays the basic principles of human dignity. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rising premiums, insurer exits, and a shifting mix of plan types has observers questioning the future of Obamacare’s health-insurance exchanges. In many parts of the United States, only one insurer remains in the exchange. In some cases, premiums are rising by an average of 50 percent. Are these just growing pains, or are the exchanges in the throes of a death spiral? A panel of scholars will offer differing perspectives on the performance and prospects for the centerpiece of Obamacare. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

China’s turn to the free market in goods and services has enabled it to achieve high growth and remarkable material progress for decades, but growth in recent years has slowed markedly. Weiying Zhang, one of China’s most influential economists, will explain why the country needs a free market for ideas if it is to become prosperous. Competing viewpoints, scholarship, and faiths are necessary to test out new ideas and for a society to progress. After 2003, however, the Chinese government has stalled reforms and is increasingly restricting the market for ideas. Zhang will draw from ancient through contemporary Chinese history to show how this restriction is jeopardizing China’s future. Ning Wang will explain how the government’s monopoly on ideas is responsible for China’s lack of innovation in science and technology, and is holding back its economy in a world that is becoming increasingly knowledge intensive. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

China’s eight-fold expansion in steel production over the past 20 years has resulted in a worldwide oversupply. China now accounts for half of global steel output and is the largest exporter. Steel producers in the United States and other countries have faced a rising tide of imported steel. The U.S. reaction has been to impose antidumping (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) measures to restrict imports. AD/CVD orders have not succeeded in restoring full profitability to U.S. steel mills, but have raised costs for manufacturers that use steel as an input.How did China become the dominant player in the global steel marketplace? Will its production continue to rise, or be curtailed? What are the implications of global oversupply for the American steel industry? And what policy responses might best serve U.S. interests? Please join us for a discussion of these important issues. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

   Across the political spectrum there is a growing recognition that our current welfare state is unable to meet the challenges of the 21st century. Among the alternatives being explored by scholars on both the right and left is the idea of a Universal Basic Income (UBI), a simple cash payment from the government to every citizen, without other requirements or restrictions. Two new books look at this idea from very different, but overlapping directions. Charles Murray, envisions a UBI as an alternative to the current bloated and bureaucratic welfare state. Andy Stern worries about inequality and a future in which automation has reduced low-skilled employment. Along with Cato senior fellow Michael Tanner, they will discuss whether a UBI is a practical and affordable approach to poverty in a new economy and whether or not there really is an opportunity to build a cross-partisan consensus for a new approach to social welfare. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Are immigrants and refugees critical threats to American security? The Syrian refugee crisis and terrorist attacks in the United States and Europe have prompted fierce debate over how to strike the proper balance between national security, the benefits of immigration, and a humanitarian refugee policy. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has taken the extreme position that the United States should not welcome any immigrants or refugees from Muslim-majority nations because of the threat of terrorism. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, on the other hand, has called for significant increases in the number of Syrian refugees that the United States accepts. Join us for a wide-ranging discussion as our expert panel examines the risk posed by foreign-born terrorists and how the public views the connection between immigrants and refugees on the one hand and national security and terrorism on the other. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Law professor James Duane became a viral sensation in 2008 for a lively lecture that explained why people shouldn’t agree to answer questions from the police. In his new book, You Have the Right to Remain Innocent, Duane expands on that presentation, offering a vigorous defense of every citizen’s constitutionally protected right to avoid self-incrimination. By using case histories of innocent persons who were wrongfully imprisoned because of information they gave to police, Duane debunks the claim that “if you haven’t done anything wrong, then you don’t have anything to worry about.” Join us for an informative lecture about the Constitution and how to protect yourself and stay out of trouble with the police. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Six years after its enactment, Obamacare remains one of the most controversial, divisive, and enduring political issues in America. In Unraveled: Obamacare, Religious Liberty, and Executive Power, Professor Josh Blackman argues that, to implement the law, President Obama has broken promises about cancelled insurance policies, exceeded the traditional bounds of executive power, and infringed on religious liberty. At the same time, conservative opponents have stopped at nothing to unravel Obamacare, including a three-week government shutdown, four Supreme Court cases, and 50 repeal votes. This legal thriller provides the definitive account of the battle to stop Obamacare from being “woven into the fabric of America.” Unraveled is the much-anticipated follow-up to the critically acclaimed Unprecedented: The Constitutional Challenge to Obamacare (2013), which told the story of the individual-mandate litigation. Together, these two books showcase unparalleled access — Blackman has interviewed all the principals save the Supreme Court justices themselves — and a compelling narrative that reads like a legal thriller. Join us for a book forum that will discuss the past, present, and the future of Obamacare in our gridlocked government. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As of 2016 over a million drones have been sold in America—to individual consumers, private companies, nonprofits, universities, and law enforcement organizations at the local, state, and federal levels. New regulatory schemes—some mandatory, others voluntary—have been implemented to help these stakeholders manage the safety, privacy, and operational concerns expressed about the use of drones domestically. But recent developments raise critical questions about whether the full range of the possibilities—and the perils—of domestic drone use have been explored.The recent mass shooting incident in Dallas involved the first use of an armed unmanned system on U.S. soil. Will the precedent lead police to seek to use aerial armed drones in the future? Technology is allowing drones to stay aloft for hours, even days at a time. Will such capabilities lead to persistent, pervasive aerial surveillance? And what about the economic promise of drones? How are they being used now in the commercial sector? Have aviation safety concerns been adequately addressed? Our panelists will explore these issues in depth. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As of 2016 over a million drones have been sold in America—to individual consumers, private companies, nonprofits, universities, and law enforcement organizations at the local, state, and federal levels. New regulatory schemes—some mandatory, others voluntary—have been implemented to help these stakeholders manage the safety, privacy, and operational concerns expressed about the use of drones domestically. But recent developments raise critical questions about whether the full range of the possibilities—and the perils—of domestic drone use have been explored.The recent mass shooting incident in Dallas involved the first use of an armed unmanned system on U.S. soil. Will the precedent lead police to seek to use aerial armed drones in the future? Technology is allowing drones to stay aloft for hours, even days at a time. Will such capabilities lead to persistent, pervasive aerial surveillance? And what about the economic promise of drones? How are they being used now in the commercial sector? Have aviation safety concerns been adequately addressed? Our panelists will explore these issues in depth. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.