Cato Recent Op-eds

New President Won't Tame Executive Power by Gene Healy

Tue, 14 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Joe Biden hardly brings the glamour and excitement to his ticket that Sarah Palin does to hers, but he surely warmed civil libertarian hearts at the vice-presidential debate when he forcefully denounced "dangerous" theories designed to "aggrandize the power of a unitary

Stephen Harper: One of U.S. by Patrick Basham

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Stephen Harper's foreign policy has fulfilled the hopes of American conservatives. As prime minister, Mr. Harper has validated my prediction during the last campaign (notoriously referenced in a Liberal attack ad) that he would become George W. Bush's new best friend

Should Taxpayers Fund the American Dream? by Daniel J. Mitchell

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Politicians from both parties have spent decades trying to subsidize the "American dream" of home ownership. This always has been a misguided effort, but the Wall Street meltdown illustrates that government intervention sometimes can have truly catastrophic

Suspend Cap Gains Tax On Toxic Assets by William Shipman

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT

A simple change in tax laws could do more to resolve the current credit crisis than the massive bailout legislation that was just enacted or Sen. McCain's recent proposal that the federal government buy up all bad mortgages.

We were cautioned that if

What to Do About Executive Compensation by Alan Reynolds

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Congressional hearings to barbecue Wall Street executives are as fun as a circus, but with more clowns. Presidential politics is now taking such political distractions to a lower level.

The announcer in Sen. Barack Obama's recent TV ad says, "Last week,

Busting the Unaccountability Myth by David Isenberg

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT

For those who like to characterize private security contractors as uncontrolled, unregulated, thinly disguised mercenaries run amok, September was a bad month.

For it was on Sept. 17 that the "Montreux Document" was released. That document, the "Montreux

Mexico's Colombian Exchange by Ted Galen Carpenter

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Even as U.S. officials concentrate on such troubling foreign-policy issues as the stalemated six-party talks regarding North Korea's nuclear program, the increasing likelihood that Iran may join the ranks of nuclear powers and growing tensions in relations with Russia,

McCain's Plan Is Sound by Michael F. Cannon

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT

On tv the other night, an auto-insurance company promised to lower my premiums by letting me "only pay for the features that I need."

Another ad followed, where a health-insurance company promised the same thing. Together, the pitchwoman and I eliminated

The US Military's Fallout Shelter by David Isenberg

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Some people may think one consequence of the ongoing United States financial crisis would be increased pressure for cuts in military spending. But that is unlikely to happen. While the crisis will increase fiscal pressure to reduce military spending, as it is the

Lessons from Abroad by Richard W. Rahn

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Can you name a country that has a flat 10 percent income tax on both personal and corporate income, and that is also running a budget surplus of 8 percent of gross domestic product (the equivalent of the United States running a budget surplus of more than $1 trillion)?

Robert Nozick Vs. The U.S. Congress by Richard A. Epstein

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Now that yesterday's market nosedive shows the disappointing Congressional bailout has not calmed markets, let the post-mortem begin. Disasters like this latest financial meltdown don't just happen. Mistakes this huge require an impoverished political philosophy to

Regulators Cannot Avert Next Crisis by Johan Norberg

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT

As usual after a financial crisis, we hear demands for new controls and regulations to stop it from happening again. But since every crisis has led to thousands of new pages of regulation, why is it that regulation doesn't stop crises from happening again? No matter

Innovate to Cut Health Costs by Shirley Svorny

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT

We've been hearing a lot about universal healthcare. But before you give up on market competition, consider that government regulation of hospitals and medical professionals makes medical care much more expensive than it need be.

We seldom hear about

Standing Still and Falling Behind by Chris Edwards

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Of late, U.S. economic policy has been dominated by responses to short-term crises - the Wall Street bailouts, the economic-stimulus bill, and post-hurricane spending. Whether or not such interventions make sense, they divert attention from the urgent need to bolster

The Big Bailout — What Next? by Warren Coats

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT

The administration has told us that American financial markets are in a perilous state because of recent and prospective losses of financial institutions that threaten the adequacy of their capital¹ and because of the illiquidity and

Fighting Financial Fires With Blini by Andrei Illarionov

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT

From its peak on May 19 to its lowest point on Sept. 17, the Russian stock market has fallen by almost 58 percent. This is its largest decline since the crash of 1998. What is the cause of the current cataclysm?

The Kremlin has been quick to blame the West,

Main Street vs. Wall Street by Arnold Kling

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT

The financial bailout isn't as bad as Main Street thinks. It's worse.

Main Street remains suspicious of government plans to buy distressed mortgage assets. Leading politicians and newspaper editorials are struggling to explain how the financial bailout will

How Much for the Heller Case Lawyers? by Alan Gura , Robert A. Levy and Clark Neily

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Prevailing parties in civil rights cases are entitled to a "reasonable" attorney's fee. We are the attorneys who represented Dick Heller in the landmark Supreme Court case striking down Washington, D.C.'s handgun ban on Second Amendment grounds, and we have asked the

Joe Biden's Health Care Whopper by Michael F. Cannon

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT

In Thursday's vice presidential debate, Joe Biden changed his tune on John McCain's health care plan - but he's still singing off-key.

The centerpiece of McCain's plan is to alter the tax breaks the federal government grants those who purchase health

Will the Last Contractor to Leave Iraq Remember to please Turn Out the Lights? by David Isenberg

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Just as private contractors were part of the buildup of forces in Iraq, from the very beginning of the war to today, they are also figuring to be a prominent part of the eventual withdrawal.

A recent report finds that the success of the eventual