• Cato Scholar Comments on Congress Passing the Farm Bill (Sallie James, trade policy analyst. May 15, 2008)

  In a spectacular display of cowardice, Congress chose yet again to pander to special interests rather than give long-suffering taxpayers a break from decades of farm welfare. The bill passed…

• News Release: Naomi Klein's The Shock Doctrine is based on shocking distortions (May 14, 2008)

  WASHINGTON--Naomi Klein's popular book The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism, which claims to expose the truth about capitalism, is based on misconstrued statements, a misunderstanding of economic and…

• Cato Scholar Comments on Congress Ordering the Bush Administration to Stop Depositing Oil in a National Reserve (Jerry Taylor, senior fellow. May 14, 2008)

  Suspending fill orders might well reduce oil prices by $10-30 a barrel –- all other things being equal. That price reduction would certainly be noticed at the pump. In a…

• Cato Scholar Comments on U.S. Listing Polar Bears as "Threatened" Species (Patrick J. Michaels, senior fellow in environmental studies and author of Meltdown: The Predictable Distortion of Global Warming by Scientists, Politicians, and the Media. May 14, 2008)

  This is a political, not a scientific act. Polar bears are at or near record population levels today. They clearly survived eras in the past where Arctic climate was warmer…

• Cato Scholar Comments on the Weakening Position of President Musharraf and the Emergence of a Democratically Elected Government in Pakistan (Malou Innocent, foreign policy analyst. May 12, 2008)

  Traditionally, the real seat of power within Pakistan has been the position of Chief of Army Staff, today led by General Ashfaq Kayani. It appears that General Kayani will continue…

• Cato Scholar Comments on Latest Farm Bill Agreement (Sallie James, trade policy analyst. May 8, 2008)

  The agreement reached by the farm bill conference committee contains very little in the way of serious reform. It makes minimal cuts to farm subsidies and in fact adds a…

• Cato Scholar Comments on Bolivian Autonomy Vote (Juan Carlos Hidalgo, project coordinator for Latin America, Center for Global Liberty and Prosperity. May 5, 2008)

  The people from Santa Cruz -- the largest and richest region in Bolivia -- voted overwhelmingly yesterday for autonomy, which would allow them to establish their own policies regarding land,…

• Cato Scholar Comments on Florida Scholarship Program (Andrew J. Coulson, director, Center for Educational Freedom. May 5, 2008)

  Florida lawmakers struck a deal to raise the cap on the state's scholarship donation tax credit program by $30 million dollars last Friday, the last day of the legislative session.…

• Cato Scholar Comments on College Tuition Report (Neal McCluskey, associate director, Center for Educational Freedom. May 1, 2008)

  This report isn't saying anything you need a college degree to understand. Even a cursory look at colleges and universities reveals that they focus their ever-increasing revenues not mainly on…

• Cato Scholar Comments on McCain's Health Plan (Michael D. Tanner, senior fellow. April 30, 2008)

  While it's possible to pick at the details and flaws in Sen. McCain's proposal, he get's the big picture right. By moving away from employer-based health care and encouraging…

• Cato Scholar Comments on Economy's First Quarter Growth (Jagadeesh Gokhale, senior fellow. April 30, 2008)

  National output grew during the first quarter of the year by 0.6 percent at an annual rate--much faster than expected based on earlier comments by some analysts that the economy…

• Cato Scholar Comments on Farm Bill Agreement (Sallie James, trade policy analyst. April 29, 2008)

  The tentative agreement reached last week is very disappointing. It makes minimal cuts to farm subsidies and in fact adds a new 'permanent disaster' program on top of the existing…

• Cato Scholar Comments on the Effect of Rising Nationalism on Globalization (Daniel T. Griswold, director, Center for Trade Policy Studies. April 28, 2008)

  Rising nationalism poses the same threat to the global economy as it did in the 1920s and 1930s. Erecting new barriers to global trade and investment will diminish the freedom…

• News Release: Venezuelan Student Movement Leader Awarded $500,000 Milton Friedman Liberty Prize (April 24, 2008)

  Washington, D.C. - The Cato Institute has announced that Yon Goicoechea, leader of the pro-democracy student movement in Venezuela that successfully prevented President Hugo Chávez's regime from seizing broad dictatorial…

• Cato Scholar Comments on Pennsylvania Democratic Primary (Michael D. Tanner, senior fellow. April 22, 2008)

  While Senators Clinton and Obama throw the 'kitchen sink' at each other, little attention is being paid to how far to the left the primary has dragged both candidates. …

• Cato Scholar Comments on Proposed Changes to NCLB (Neal McCluskey, associate director, Center for Educational Freedom. April 22, 2008)

  The Department of Education can demand, reprove, and regulate all it wants, but in the end it can't and won't change a system in which parents have no power. As…

• Cato Scholar Comments on the Supreme Court Hearing Another Challenge to McCain-Feingold (Ilya Shapiro, senior fellow, Center for Constitutional Studies and editor-in-chief, Cato Supreme Court Review. April 21, 2008)

  Tomorrow, just as Pennsylvania Democrats go the polls in the last large primary before their nominating convention, the Supreme Court will hear yet another challenge to the McCain-Feingold campaign finance…

• Cato Scholar Comments on Paraguayan Presidential Election (Juan Carlos Hidalgo, project coordinator for Latin America, Center for Global Liberty and Prosperity. April 21, 2008)

  Sixty-one years of corrupt and often authoritarian party rule ended yesterday in Paraguay with the defeat of the Colorado party and the victory of Fernando Lugo. However, it remains to…

• Cato Scholar Comments on Bush's Call for Halting Growth in Greenhouse Gas Emissions (Patrick J. Michaels, senior fellow in environmental studies and author of Meltdown: The Predictable Distortion of Global Warming by Scientists, Politicians, and the Media. April 17, 2008)

  President Bush announced today a national goal of stabilizing emissions of greenhouse gases by 2025, and proposed that 'all the major economies' of the world should do the same. …

• Cato Scholar Comments on The Ensuring Continued Access to Student Loans Act of 2008 (Neal McCluskey, associate director, Center for Educational Freedom. April 17, 2008)

  In classic Washington fashion, Congress is tackling a 'crisis' that doesn't exist, and taxpayers are the victims. Though no eligible student has reported an inability to secure federal student loans,…

• News Release: U.S. Has Not Yet Seen True Market-Based Reform in Education (April 16, 2008)

  WASHINGTON--Most U.S. school choice studies to date have made mistaken and insupportable claims about market reform in education, finds a Policy Analysis released by the Cato Institute today. "The most intensely…

• News Release: McCain's Trade Policies Would Be Most Beneficial to U.S. Economy (April 15, 2008)

  Of the presidential candidates, John McCain's policies on free trade would be most beneficial to the U.S. economy, finds "Race to the Bottom? The Presidential Candidates' Position on Trade," a…

• News Release: Rail transit won't reduce greenhouse gases (April 14, 2008)

  WASHINGTON - In the last 15 years, American cities have spent $100 billion on new rail transit projects. Proponents now justify the expense with claims that rail will reduce greenhouse gas…

• Cato Scholar Comments on Senate Housing Bill (William A. Niskanen, chairman. April 11, 2008)

  The Senate has again demonstrated that its guiding principle is "Don't just sit there. Do something really dumb in response to the current perceived crisis." This week's example is…

• Cato Scholar Comments on the Zimbabwe Crisis and SADC (Marian L. Tupy, policy analyst, Center for Global Liberty and Prosperity. April 11, 2008)

  The SADC leaders will tomorrow have an opportunity to break their silence with regard to the Zimbabwean crisis. Since it was announced that ZANU-PF lost control of parliament, Mugabe's government…

• Cato Scholar Comments on Rising Food Prices (Sallie James, trade policy analyst. April 9, 2008)

  Government interventions in agricultural markets are spawning a host of unintended consequences, including increased political instability abroad. The ethanol policy is partly to blame for higher food prices, which are…

• Cato Scholar Comments on Petraeus Testimony (Christopher A. Preble, director of foreign policy studies. April 8, 2008)

  Gen. Petraeus's recommendation that approximately 140,000 U.S. troops remain in Iraq after July, a higher number than when President Bush announced the surge in January 2007, demonstrates the bankruptcy of…

• Cato Scholar Comments on Bernanke's Testimony (William A. Niskanen, chairman. April 3, 2008)

  The press has made too much about Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke's musings about whether the U.S. economy is now in a recession or is headed for a recession. We won't…

• Cato Scholar Comments on Opposition Party's Declaration of Victory in Zimbabwe (Marian L. Tupy, policy analyst, Center for Global Liberty and Prosperity. April 2, 2008)

  The declaration of victory by the opposition Movement for Democratic Change this morning was precipitated by the slow and bizarre way in which the Mugabe-appointed Zimbabwean Electoral Commission has been…

• Cato Scholar Comments on Ukraine Possibly Joining NATO (Stanley Kober, research fellow in foreign policy studies and author of "Cracks in the Foundation: NATO's New Troubles". April 1, 2008)

  While President Bush has indicated he supports Ukraine's membership in NATO, the governments of France and Germany have announced their opposition. That governments would differ is not so unusual. What…

• Cato Scholar Comments on High School Dropout Rates (Andrew Coulson, director, Center for Educational Freedom. April 1, 2008)

  The idea that we can reduce the public school dropout rate simply by measuring it better is misguided. It's like believing that the North Koreans could improve their economy by…

• News Release: Trade and globalization not to blame for economic slowdown (March 31, 2008)

  WASHINGTON -- Contrary to political rhetoric, free trade does not cause economic downturns, but in fact it has helped ensure that recessions are "mercifully shorter, shallower, and less frequent" than…

• Cato Scholar Comments on Zimbabwe's Elections (Marian L. Tupy, policy analyst, Center for Global Liberty and Prosperity. March 31, 2008)

  In the presidential and parliamentary elections last Saturday, the people of Zimbabwe appear to have given a resounding victory to Morgan Tsvangirai and his Movement for Democratic Change. In a…

• Cato Scholar Comments on New Regulatory Proposals (Daniel Mitchell, senior fellow. March 31, 2008)

  The regulatory news out of Washington is like a Clint Eastwood spaghetti western …

• Cato Scholar Comments on March 29 Elections in Zimbabwe (Marian L. Tupy, policy analyst, Center for Global Liberty and Prosperity. March 28, 2008)

  Saturday's elections in Zimbabwe will be rigged in favor of the incumbent. Robert Mugabe, who is chiefly responsibly for destroying Zimbabwe's democracy and economy, cannot afford to lose presidential immunity…

• Cato Scholars Comment on Premium Cap in Hillary Clinton's Health Plan (Michael Cannon, director of health policy studies. March 28, 2008)

  Sen. Clinton wants to force everyone to pay health insurance premiums and to set premiums as a certain percentage of household income, which is just a clever way of converting…

• News Release: Despite Having Destroyed Zimbabwe, Mugabe Likely to be "Reelected" (March 24, 2008)

  WASHINGTON -- Robert Mugabe will likely remain in power after this weekend's elections despite being largely responsible for Zimbabwe's implosion, finds a study released today by the Cato Institute. "Few people…

• Cato Scholar Comments on Taiwan Elections (James A. Dorn, vice president for academic affairs, editor of Cato Journal. March 24, 2008)

  The election of Ma Ying-jeou to the Taiwanese presidency is a vote of confidence in cross-Straits economic relations. Mr. Ma's promise to promote closer economic relations with the Mainland is…

• News Release: New libertarian project launched in crossroads of Europe, Asia, and the Middle East (March 20, 2008)

  The worldwide spread of libertarian ideas continues to advance with the launch of a new project based in the former Soviet Republic of Azerbaijan. AzadliqCiragi.org ("Lamp of Liberty" in Azerbaijani),…

• News Release: Cato study finds Iran a surprising model for kidney markets (March 20, 2008)

  WASHINGTON -- The United States suffers from an acute shortage of kidneys for transplant, with 73,000 people waiting for deceased donors to make organs available.  Allowing compensation for donors, an…

• Cato Scholar Comments on Fifth Anniversary of Iraq War (Justin Logan, associate director of foreign policy studies. March 19, 2008)

  Five years ago, few predicted that the Iraq war would turn out this way. (My Cato colleagues were notable exceptions.) The war's supporters, like Senator John McCain, the…

• Cato Scholar Comments on DC v. Heller Oral Arguments (Robert A. Levy, senior fellow in constitutional studies. March 18, 2008)

  On or before June 30, the U.S. Supreme Court will weigh in, for the first time in seven decades, on the meaning of the Second Amendment. That was the…

• Cato Scholar Comments on Current Economic Problems (Daniel J. Mitchell, senior fellow. March 18, 2008)

  Politicians are panicking and their policies are making things worse rather than better. Whether they're pushing bailouts for Wall Street or easy money from the Fed, they are creating…

• Cato Scholar Comments on Bear Stearns Sale and Current U.S. Financial Situation (William Niskanen, chairman. March 17, 2008)

  The Fed-assisted fire sale of Bear Stearns over the weekend is probably not the last effort to stop a cascade of financial losses due to the collapse of the market…

• News Release: "Sovereign Wealth Funds" Are Beneficial and Safe for U.S. Economy (March 14, 2008)

  "Sovereign Wealth Fund" investment, like all foreign investment, benefits the U.S. economy in myriad ways.  Accordingly, it should be treated like all foreign investment: welcomed, but also subject to laws…

• News Release: "EEV" of Destruction (March 6, 2008)

  E-Verify, the program promoted by the Bush administration to reduce illegal immigration, would be ineffective, invasive and costly, finds a study by the Cato Institute. "A full-fledged Electronic Employment Verification (EEV)…

• News Release: US has to be more realistic about Russia (February 29, 2008)

  At a time when the United States and Russia are increasingly at odds on major world issues such as Kosovo, Iran and energy security, Washington must shed old illusions about…

• News Release: Former Putin advisor slams Russian election as farce (February 29, 2008)

  WASHINGTON -- "The Russian presidential election is a sad farce and another manipulative operation undertaken by the siloviki regime of secret police officers to hold on to power," says Andrei Illarionov,…

• News Release: World Health Report Rankings Driven by Ideology, Skewed Data (February 26, 2008)

  WASHINGTON – The two remaining Democratic presidential candidates take the stage tonight in what could be the final debate before the nominee is decided, and health care is all but…

• News Release: New Cato web feature offers access and analysis of key trade votes (February 15, 2008)

  WASHINGTON -- The Cato Institute's Center for Trade Policy Studies launched a powerful new interactive web feature this week that allows users to access and analyze the trade voting record…

• News Release: Ending Fiat Money Woes: A Return to the Gold Standard (February 8, 2008)

  WASHINGTON – Though the idea does not currently have much traction, returning the U.S. dollar to the gold standard could prove superior to the current fiat money system. Lawrence H.…

• News Release: Climate change will not be the century's most urgent environmental problem (February 5, 2008)

  WASHINGTON -- Climate change is expected to exacerbate a variety of environmental and human health problems. Does this mean we should make sacrifices now to prevent it?  In the Cato Institute…

• News Release: NATO in difficulty due to over-stretch and intra-alliance disagreements (January 15, 2008)

  WASHINGTON -- The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) risks collapse as a result of commitments taken on since the end of the Cold War, according to a study released today…

• News Release: Applying the Amazon.com Model to the Promotion of Freedom (December 12, 2007)

  The Cato Institute has established itself as one of the most international of think tanks with active research and publication programs in nine major languages.  On December 12, Cato is…

• News Release: Is Wage Growth Really the Answer to Social Security's Looming Insolvency? (December 10, 2007)

  Long-accepted conventional wisdom has held that wage growth alone can improve the financial condition of Social Security -- that it is possible to "grow our way out" of the program's…

• News Release: Cato study finds regional planning makes homes unaffordable (December 6, 2007)

  Close to 40 percent of Americans live in states and regions where growth-management planning has reduced housing affordability .  According to a new study by the Cato Institute, such planning…

• News Release: The Public Education Tax Credit (December 5, 2007)

  It's among the most divisive, yet fundamental, questions any democracy faces, and it has been at Ground Zero of American politics from time immemorial: How do we educate our children,…

• News Release: The Politics of Freedom: Taking on the Left, the Right, and Threats to Our Liberties (November 28, 2007)

  A recent Zogby International survey commissioned by the Cato Institute found that 59 percent of respondents would describe themselves as "fiscally conservative and socially liberal."  When the same question was…

Media Contacts

Upcoming Studies