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Homepage Archives

The Myth of the Compact City

The Obama administration has endorsed proposals to direct metropolitan areas to become more "compact" in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Such a compact development policy calls for increasing urban population densities, housing more people in multi-family and mixed-use developments, investing more in mass transit and less in infrastructure for personal transportation, and concentrating jobs in selected areas. In a new paper, Cato scholar Randal O'Toole argues that compact-development policies represent a huge intrusion on private property rights, personal freedom, and mobility.

• "The Myth of the Compact City: Why Compact Development Is Not the Way to Reduce Carbon Dioxide Emissions," by Randal O'Toole

Why America Leads the World in Medical Innovation

Studies that compare America's health care sector to other countries typically omit any measure of innovation. A new study by Glen Whitman and Raymond Raad shows that America far and away leads the world in medical innovation. Since American innovations improve health world-wide, that is a virtue of the American system that is not reflected in comparative life-expectancy and mortality statistics. The authors argue that innovation should play a central role in the health care debate, and that the legislation before Congress could hinder the ability of creative individuals to innovate.

• "Bending the Productivity Curve: Why America Leads the World in Medical Innovation," by Glen Whitman and Raymond Raad

The New Threats to Free Speech

Liberal governments have traditionally relied on a particular bargain, in which freedom of expression is maintained for all, and in which emotional satisfaction is a private pursuit, not a public guarantee. Recent challenges to this bargain rely on a common assumption, namely that governments should provide emotional well-being to their citizens, even at the expense of free expression. In a new paper, Cato scholar Jason Kuznicki argues that restrictions on free expression do not make societies happier or more tolerant, but instead make them more fractious and censorious.

• "Attack of the Utility Monsters: The New Threats to Free Speech," by Jason Kuznicki

Media Content Regulation in the 21st Century

New rules adopted or proposed by the FCC suggest that the agency may be poised to enforce the most intensive government oversight of broadcast programming in decades—perhaps even in the history of the agency. In a new study, author Robert Corn-Revere defines the parameters of the new debate: "Just as we have entered a new age of media abundance, proponents of government regulation are now pushing new theories based on the paradoxical notion that the promise of the First Amendment—that 'Congress shall make no law...abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press'—cannot be realized without affirmative government oversight for all media."

• "Fairness 2.0: Media Content Regulation in the 21st Century," by Robert Corn-Revere

ObamaCare: A Bad Deal for Young Adults

President Obama won the presidency with 66 percent of the vote among 18-to-29 year-olds. That's a larger share than any presidential candidate has won in decades. Yet according to a new study by Cato scholar Aaron Yelowitz, the cost of President Obama's health care plan would fall inordinately upon younger Americans, meaning they are in essence being asked to subsidize the care of their elders.

• "ObamaCare: A Bad Deal for Young Adults," by Aaron Yelowitz
• Healthcare.Cato.org

Will Federal Health Legislation Cause the Deficit to Soar?

According to the CBO, both the Senate Finance Committee's health reform plan, and the House version of health legislation, would reduce 10-year deficits. Supporters of these health care proposals thus argue that the plans are fiscally responsible. In a new paper, Cato scholar Daniel J. Mitchell explains that promises of lower deficits are a triumph of hope over experience. "Government-run health care will cost more than the politicians are telling us," says Mitchell.

• "Will Federal Health Legislation Cause the Deficit to Soar?," by Daniel J. Mitchell

New Cato Journal Tackles Race Relations, Global Warming, and Trade Protectionism

In the most recent issue of Cato Journal, Cato scholar Jason Kuznicki reviews evidence from economic and legal history to argue that not only did U.S. governments incentivize and even mandate racial discrimination, but these acts tended to reinforce racial mistrust as time went by. Also in this issue, Patrick J. Michaels and Paul C. Knappenberger catalogue scientific shortcomings in the EPA's greenhouse gases endangerment finding, and Miaojie Yu asks, "Does a party's tariff platform affect its electoral outcome?".

• Fall 2009 Issue of Cato Journal

Reflections on Communism Twenty Years after the Fall of the Berlin Wall

Twenty years ago the Berlin Wall fell, marking the collapse of Soviet communism. The anniversary is an appropriate time for stocktaking and for seeking to answer a number of questions associated with this historic event, its aftermath, and its continued influence. In a new paper, author Paul Hollander shows how the failure of the communist system was not merely economic and political; it was a moral failure as well.

• "Reflections on Communism Twenty Years after the Fall of the Berlin Wall," by Paul Hollander
• "Murderous Idealism," by Paul Hollander, Washington Post

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