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David Boaz

Executive Vice President

Cato's executive vice president David Boaz is a provocative commentator on a broad range of political and cultural issues; he has played a key role in the development of the Cato Institute and the libertarian movement. He is the author of Libertarianism: A Primer, published in 1997 by the Free Press and described by the Los Angeles Times as "a well-researched manifesto of libertarian ideas," the editor of The Libertarian Reader, and co-editor of the Cato Handbook for Congress (2003). He is a leading authority on domestic issues like education choice, drug legalization, the growth of government, and the rise of libertarianism and is a frequent guest on national television and radio shows. Boaz's March 1988 New York Times article on the futility of the drug war touched off a national debate over the decriminalization of drugs. Some of Boaz's op-eds have been published in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, National Review, and Slate. He also has appeared on ABC's Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher, CNN's Crossfire, NPR's Talk of the Nation, Fox News Channel, BBC, Voice of America, Radio Free Europe, and other media. Boaz, a graduate of Vanderbilt University, is the former editor of New Guard magazine and was executive director of the Council for a Competitive Economy prior to joining Cato in 1981.

Media Contact: 202-789-5200
To Book a Speaking Engagement: 202-789-5226
E-Mail: dboaz@cato.org

Speaking Topics

• Arts
• Constitutional Theory and Limited Government
• Drug Prohibition
• Education and Child Policy
• Federal Education Policy
• Government and Politics
• Hate Crimes
• History of Liberty
• Libertarianism
• School Choice
• 1st Amendment (free speech, church and state)

David Boaz speaks on the last 25 years of liberty on Capitol Hill.

David Boaz discusses the future of libertarianism on NPR's "Weekend Edition."

Selected Media Appearances

David Boaz discusses the political fallout from the Terri Schiavo case on CNN Inside Politics. (March 24, 2005). [Real Media]

David Boaz discusses libertarianism, Social Security choice and ownership society on John McLaughlin's One on One. (February 13, 2005). [Real Media]

David Boaz discusses the benefits of an ownership society on NPR's All Things Considered. (February 3, 2005). [Real Media]

David Boaz on the presidential election on CNBC (November 3, 2004). [Real Media]

David Boaz on the presidential debates on CNBC (October 14, 2004). [Real Media]

David Boaz analyzes Sen. Kerry's acceptance speech on CNBC Morning Call (July 30, 2004). [Real Media]

David Boaz on C-SPAN's Washington Journal (December 5, 2003). [Real Media]

David Boaz discusses the vision of libertarianism at a Cato Capitol Hill Forum televised by C-SPAN. (August 12, 2003). [Real Media]

David Boaz debates President Bush's fitness plan on CNN's "Crossfire." (August 26, 2002). [Real Media]

David Boaz debates hate crimes on CNN's "Crossfire" (April 11, 2002). [Real Media]

David Boaz discusses seat belt laws on Fox News' "The Fox Report" (May 21, 2001). [Real Media]

David Boaz talks about Robert Downey, Jr. and drug policy on Fox News' "The O'Reilly Factor" (April 25, 2001). [Real Media]

David Boaz debates seat belt laws on MSBC's "The News with Brian Williams" (April 25, 2001). [Real Media]

David Boaz discusses U.S. foreign drug policy on CNN's "Crossfire" (April 23, 2001). [Real Media]

David Boaz debates the "gender gap" with Patricia Ireland on CNNfn's "Tough Call" (April 9, 2001). [Real Media]

David Boaz debates the estate tax on CNNfn's "Tough Call" (March 3, 2001). [Real Media]

Published Works by David Boaz

Books

Toward Liberty: The Idea That Is Changing the World, editor (2002).

Libertarianism: A Primer, (1997)

The Libertarian Reader, editor (1997)

Market Liberalism: A Paradigm for the 21st Century, coeditor (1993)

Liberating Schools: Education in the Inner City, editor (1990)

The Crisis in Drug Prohibition, editor (1991)

Left, Right, and Babyboom, editor (1986)

Studies

"What Would a School Voucher Buy? The Real Cost of Private Schools," by David Boaz and R. Morris Barrett, Cato Briefing Paper no. 25, March 26, 1996.

"The Reagan Budget: The Deficit That Didn't Have to Be," Cato Policy Analysis no. 13, August 10, 1982.

Opinion and Commentary

"No Federalism on the Right," FoxNews.com, May 13, 2005.

"Congress's Latest Christmas Tree Bill," May 13, 2005.

"Collateral Damage from the Nuclear Option," May 5, 2005.

"Contract Out," Reason.com, April 28, 2005.

"Filibuster Flip-Flops," the American Spectator, April 25, 2005.

"Sorting Out Rights," the San Francisco Examiner, April 12,2005.

"Social Security Reform Would Help Workers," March 19, 2005.

"For Many, Taxes Leave Nothing to Add to 'Add-Ons,'" the Hill, March 10, 2005.

"Ayn Rand at 100," A Cato Daily Commentary, February 2, 2005.

"Congress Should Make Tough Choices," A Cato Daily Commentary, January 27, 2005.

"Congress Should Restrain the President," A Cato Daily Commentary, January 18, 2005.

"A Free and Prosperous New Year," Apple Daily, January 5, 2005.

"The New Austerity," A Cato Daily Commentary, November 28, 2004.

"What to Be Thankful for," the Washington Times, November 25, 2004.

"No Mandate: The Anti-Kerry Election," FoxNews.com, November 3, 2004.

"Left and Right in the Same Sorry Rut," the Los Angeles Times, August 3, 2004.

"Obesity and 'Public Health'?" A Cato Daily Commentary, July 20, 2004.

"The Greatest Story Ever Mistold," A Cato Daily Commentary, July 9, 2004.

"What Are We Teaching Our Kids?" A Cato Daily Commentary, July 7, 2004.

"Remembering Ronald Reagan," A Cato Daily Commentary, June 7, 2004.

"Bush, Kerry, and Partisan Hypocrisy," A Cato Daily Commentary, May 25, 2004.

"Hey, Big Spender: What Part of NO Don't You Understand?," A Cato Daily Commentary, February 17, 2004.

"The Bush Betrayal," the Washington Post, November 30, 2003.

"Grand Old Party of Immigrants?," the New York Post, October 25, 2003.

"Too Nice for Talk Radio?" Investors Business Daily, September 8, 2003.

"SARS and the Bureaucratic Creep," the Washington Times, June 11, 2003.

"The Death Tax for the Other 98 Percent of Us," FoxNews.com, February 11, 2003. This article also appeared on Techcentralstation.com, February 19, 2003.

"Bush's Third Way Betrays True Conservatism," the Australian, January 31, 2003.

"Democrats and the Right to Choose -- What?" FoxNews.com, January 28, 2003.

"Happy Birthday, Milton Friedman," FoxNews.com, August 05, 2002.

"25 Years of Political Change," Nationalreview.com, May 21, 2002.

"Scottish Tribes Provide Example to Afghanistan," A Cato Daily Commentary, April 18, 2002.

"The Scandal that Wasn't," A Cato Daily Commentary, February 15, 2002.

"Unions vs. Education: Teachers Unions Beat the Latest Reform Initiative," Nationalreview.com, November 21, 2001.

"Turning to Government," A Cato Daily Commentary, November 2, 2001.

"Responding to the Attack on America," A Cato Daily Commentary, October 12, 2001.

"Attacks on American Values," A Cato Daily Commentary, October 1, 2001.

"Karen Hughes, the Power Behind the Curtain," A Cato Daily Commentary, August 18, 2001.

"Congress Trashes Local Control of Schools," A Cato Daily Commentary, June 23, 2001.

"Don't Put Slavery in the Flag," A Cato Daily Commentary, April 16, 2001.

"Drug Legalization, Criminalization,and Harm Reduction," Testimony to the Subcommittee on Criminal Justice, Drug Policy, and Human Resources Committee on Government Reform, U.S. House of Representatives, June 16, 1999.

"Expansive Solutions," the Washington Post, September 27, 1995.

"Don't Forget the Kids," the New York Times, September 10, 1994.

"Yellow Peril Reinfects America," the Wall Street Journal, April 7, 1989.

"Let's Quit the Drug War," the New York Times, March 17, 1988.