James A. Dorn (Author at The Cato Institute)

20th Anniversary of Tiananmen: (Scholar Comments)

Thu, 04 Jun 2009 00:00:00 EDT

After 20 years China has made substantial economic progress, but the ghosts of Tiananmen are restless and will continue to be so until the Goddess of Liberty is restored.

The Chinese Communist Party's "Human Rights Action Plan" (2009–10) addresses several human rights abuses, but it fails to establish a well-defined boundary between the individual and the state that protects rights to life, liberty, and property. Until China limits the power of the CCP and allows people to exercise their natural rights, there will be corruption, and the goal of "social harmony" will be elusive. The lesson of Tiananmen is that the principle of nonintervention (wu wei) is superior to the heavy hand of the state as a way to bring about true harmony.

Tiananmen Square: 20 Years Later (Daily Podcast)

Thu, 04 Jun 2009 00:00:00 EDT

Socialism, US-Style (Commentary)

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 00:00:00 EDT

Near the end of his term in office US president George W. Bush said: "I'm abandoning free-market principles to save the free-market system." But he had already significantly increased the size and scope of the federal government. His last act was to bail out General Motors and Chrysler. That trend i...

In Excess (Commentary)

Wed, 22 Apr 2009 00:00:00 EDT

China's massive stimulus program is being fuelled by an unprecedented increase in bank lending. More credit has been extended in the first quarter of 2009 than for all of 2007, and bank lending is growing by nearly 30 percent on an annual basis compared to about 15 percent in October 2008. That lend...

Reserves and Reservations (Daily Podcast)

Thu, 09 Apr 2009 00:00:00 EDT

The Dangers of a New Global Reserve Currency (Commentary)

Thu, 02 Apr 2009 00:00:00 EDT

A key topic at the G20 meeting is sure to be the future of the dollar as an international reserve currency. The global financial crisis, which started with the US subprime crisis, has eroded confidence in the dollar as an anchor for international payments. Moreover, large US fiscal deficits could ad...

The Fed's Fattening Balance Sheet (Daily Podcast)

Fri, 20 Mar 2009 00:00:00 EDT

Unlocking Potential (Commentary)

Fri, 27 Feb 2009 00:00:00 EST

In a recent interview with the Financial Times, Premier Wen Jiabao expressed his admiration for Adam Smith's Theory of Moral Sentiments, written in 1759, before his better-known treatise The Wealth of Nations (1776). What the premier took away from the book is the idea that a society in which wealth...