Why Congress Should Abolish New Starts

The New Starts program, created by Congress in 1991, “is the federal government’s primary financial resource for supporting locally-planned, implemented, and operated transit ‘guideway’ capital investments.” In a new paper, Cato scholar Randal O’Toole shows that New Starts has effectively given transit agencies incentives to select the costliest, rather than the most cost-effective, alternative to any transit problem, and argues that the program should be abolished.

CBO Scores Immigration Bill

The Congressional Budget Office has fiscally scored the Senate’s immigration bill, S. 744, and found that it will decrease fiscal deficits over the next 20 years—giving a huge boost to reform proponents. Cato scholar Alex Nowrasteh explains how the CBO’s findings broadly confirm Cato’s research that immigration reform will be economically beneficial to immigrants and the country as a whole.

Arming Syrian Rebels Is a Mistake

The Obama administration reportedly has decided to provide “direct military aid” to Syria’s insurgents, after concluding that Syrian forces were using chemical weapons.  But according to Cato scholar Doug Bandow, this kind of messy conflict is precisely the sort that Washington should avoid. “Americans should have something fundamental at stake before their government calls them to arms,” says Bandow. “No such interest exists in Syria.”

Rethinking Privacy in the 21st Century

For many, lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of the NSA’s surveillance practices are now on the agenda. But the program’s defenders insist it’s entirely legal — that the Constitution doesn’t even protect the records in question — and they may be right.  Cato scholar Julian Sanchez argues that this means we need to seriously rethink how the Fourth Amendment works in the 21st century. “Simply by using modern technology,” says Sanchez, “Americans have — for the most part unwittingly — abandoned the Fourth Amendment’s protection for a vast and growing portion of their intimate activities.”

Recent Commentary

Events

June 20

How Markets and Innovation Became Ethical and Then Suspect

Featuring Deirdre N. McCloskey, Distinguished Professor of Economics, History, English, and Communication, University of Illinois at Chicago, Author, The Bourgeois Virtues and Bourgeois Dignity; with comments by Donald J. Boudreaux, Professor of Economics, George Mason University; moderated by Dalibor Rohac, Policy Analyst, Center for Global Liberty and Prosperity, Cato Institute.

12:00pm Hayek Auditorium

Of Special Note

Win a Free Nook

Win a Free Nook

The Cato Institute is giving away free Barnes & Noble Nook e-readers this spring, with a new winner chosen once a month in April, May, and June. All you need to do to get your shot at winning a Nook is provide your email address.

Special! 10 Copies for $10

Cato Pocket Constitution

To encourage people everywhere to better understand and appreciate the principles of government that are set forth in America’s founding documents, the Cato Institute published this pocket-size edition.

Cato University 2013

Cato University 2013 * July 28 - August 2

Cato University is Cato’s premier educational event of the year. This annual program brings together outstanding faculty and participants from around the country and globe – for sharing experiences and perspectives in a one-of-a-kind, brain-energizing environment. Above, Senator Rand Paul – who will be giving a presentation at this year’s program – speaks at last year’s Cato University. This year’s program will be held at the Cato Institute, in the heart of Washington, D.C – the perfect setting for examining the roots of our commitment to liberty and limited government and for exploring the ideas and values on which the American republic was founded.
Details & Registration