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Cato Policy Report, January/February 1998

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Forum Examines GATT after 50 years

October 8: In 1981 employees of Galveston and two other counties in Texas voted to opt out of the federal Social Security system in favor of a private alternative. At a Policy Forum on "Opting Out of Social Security: How Galveston County Did It," Donald Kebodeaux and E. J. Myers, who helped to design the private system, reported that retirees are receiving far greater benefits than they would have gotten under Social Security and maintained that Galveston County's plan could serve as a model for the entire United States.
October 9: At a Policy Forum titled "If We Had Known Then What We Know Now, Would There Be an Air Bag Mandate?" Sam Kazman of the Competitive Enterprise Institute argued that the National Highway Safety Administration has withheld evidence that the deployment of air bags can kill young children. He maintained that individuals have a fundamental right to determine how to best protect themselves and argued that they should be allowed to deactivate air bags in their cars if they wish. Charles Hurley of the Public Affairs National Safety Council claimed that the air bag mandate has saved far more lives than it has cost.
October 10: Mark Skousen, professor of economics and finance at Rollins College and columnist for Forbes, spoke about his new book Puzzles and Paradoxes of Economics. He discussed some seeming economic paradoxes, such as why efforts to eliminate poverty actually increase poverty and why diamonds--a luxury good--are more expensive than water--something that is needed for survival.
October 14: The Cato Institute hosted its 15th annual Monetary Conference, "Money and Capital Flows in a Global Economy." In the keynote address, Alan Greenspan, chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, argued that governments--and particularly central banks--should not attempt to impede economic globalization. Regulation, he reminded the crowd, is likely to retard growth and to prop up inefficient institutions. Walter B. Wriston, former chairman of Citicorp, maintained that technological innovation is fundamentally changing the way markets operate and that further progress, while not inevitable, is very likely. Participants also considered the lessons from the Mexican peso crisis, how to avoid international financial crises, and policy options in a world of mobile capital. More than 200 people attended the day-long event held in Cato's F. A. Hayek Auditorium. In addition, 1,100 people watched the conference live on the World Wide Web. The Internet broadcast was one of the first of its kind.
October 20: Paul R. Gross of the University of Virginia discussed a new book that he coedited, The Flight from Science and Reason, at a Book Forum. The contributors to the volume argue that reason and science can produce objective knowledge. Commenting on Gross's presentation was Paul Forman of the National Museum of American History, who wrote a critical review of the book in Science.
October 21: The Cato Institute hosted a City Seminar in Chicago. Among the speakers were Cato's Ed Crane, Roger Pilon, and Michael Tanner. Ward Connerly of the American Civil Rights Institute delivered the luncheon address, "Equality before the Law: The Key to Racial Harmony," and Stephen Chapman, columnist for the Chicago Tribune, gave the keynote address, "Campaign Finance Reform: The Threat to Open Political Discourse."
October 21: Christopher Lingle, author of The Rise and Decline of the Asian Century, discussed his book at a Book Forum. He maintained that authoritarian political institutions in many Asian countries make continued economic growth unlikely.
October 22: At a Policy Forum on "Crime, Self-Defense, and the Right to Carry a Handgun," Jeffrey R. Snyder, a Second Amendment columnist and author of a recent Cato Institute Policy Analysis on concealed-carry handgun laws, rebutted many of the arguments made by proponents of gun control, including that people lack the competence to handle firearms responsibly and that more guns necessarily mean more violence. Providing commentary was Douglas Weil of the Center to Prevent Handgun Violence.
October 23: Lynn Zimmer and John P. Morgan, authors of Marijuana Myths, Marijuana Facts: A Review of the Scientific Evidence, discussed their book at a Book Forum. They maintained that the dangers of marijuana have been greatly exaggerated and that, in fact, even regular use poses few health risks. In addition, they explained that the demonization of marijuana has led many people to believe that it is no less dangerous than heroine and cocaine; that belief has resulted in an increase in use of those substances.
October 29: At a Policy Forum four panelists debated the question "Should Land Mines Be Banned?" Stephen Goose of the International Campaign to Ban Land Mines and David Isenberg of the Center for Defense Information maintained that the United States should follow the lead of more than 100 other countries and sign a treaty banning the production and use of anti-personnel land mines. Larry Dodgen of the Department of Defense and Steven Costner of the Department of State argued that such an action would be premature and that the use of land mines might be necessary should the United States enter a conflict in Korea.
October 30: On the 50th anniversary of the signing of the original General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, the Cato Institute hosted a half-day Policy Forum titled "GATT after 50 Years: The Future of Free Trade." Robert Z. Lawrence of Harvard University decried the rise of protectionist sentiment on both the left and the right. He said that "those who are calling for a 'level playing field' are really asking for an elimination of the gains of trade." Claude Barfield of the American Enterprise Institute and Fred Smith of the Competitive Enterprise Institute maintained that the United States must be very wary of trade agreements that contain side agreements on environmental and labor standards. Brink Lindsey, of Willkie, Farr & Gallagher and an adjunct scholar of the Cato Institute, argued that the United States should not wait for multilateral trade agreements to be signed before eliminating its own trade barriers. He maintained that immediate unilateral trade liberalization would benefit American consumers. Terry Fortune of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison and David Palmeter of Graham & James considered the harmful effects of U.S. anti-dumping statutes.
November 11: V�clav Klaus, then prime minister of the Czech Republic, discussed his new Cato Institute book Renaissance: The Rebirth of Liberty in the Heart of Europe at a Book Forum. He spoke about how the Czech Republic, perhaps the most Stalinist state in Eastern Europe during the Cold War, was transformed into the open society that it is today.
November 12: The Cato Institute visited Los Angeles for a City Seminar. Among the speakers were Cato's Ed Crane, David Boaz, Michael Tanner, and Jos� Pi�era, as well as Ward Connerly of the American Civil Rights Institute.
November 13-15: The Cato Institute, along with the Bionomics Institute and Forbes ASAP, hosted the 5th Annual Bionomics Conference, "Now What? Living with Perpetual Evolution," in San Francisco. Among the issues discussed were the ways in which a free society promotes trust, how technological innovation will affect education, and how competition is crucial to a vibrant, dynamic society. In addition, there were luncheon and dinner addresses by Virginia Postrel, editor of Reason; Peter Huber, author of Law and Disorder in Cyberspace; and Gregory Benford, editor of Far Futures.
November 13: At a Policy Forum titled "The Coming, Joyous Collapse of Western Europe's Farm Policies," Dennis Avery, director of the Hudson Institute's Center for Global Food Issues, argued that agricultural subsidies in Western Europe encourage trade protectionism, undermine job creation, exacerbate the volatility of world food prices and supply, and endanger environmental health. Happily, he predicted that as the United States phases out its price supports, the costs of Western Europe's subsidies will be made apparent and they will be eliminated as well.
November 14: Steven E. Landsburg, associate professor of economics at the University of Rochester and author of The Armchair Economist, discussed his new book Fair Play: What Your Child Can Teach You about Economics, Values, and the Meaning of Life. He argued that forced egalitarianism cannot be justified either on a moral basis or by a cost-benefit analysis.
November 24: Four experts debated the question "Defense Spending: Up, Down, or Flat?" at a Policy Forum. Earl Ravenal of the Cato Institute argued that unwise and entangling U.S. alliances require large amounts of military spending and that, if the United States wishes to cut spending, it must rethink its foreign policy and abandon its interventionist approach. Michael Vickers of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments maintained that defense resources are adequate but that the composition of spending needs to be changed; more should be spent on technical innovation and less on conventional troops. Michael O'Hanlon of the Brookings Institution contended that current military spending is slightly inadequate if the United States is to stay engaged in the world in the way it is today. He argued that relatively small increases will be needed for hardware acquisition. Frank Gaffney of the Center for Security Policy maintained that the United States is woefully unprepared for a nuclear or biological attack and that defense spending has been cut much too sharply since the end of the Cold War.

This article originally appeared in the January/February 1998 edition of Cato Policy Report.

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