

<rss version="2.0" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom">
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<title>Richard W. Rahn (Author at The Cato Institute)</title>
<atom:link href="http://www.cato.org/rss/author.xml?auth_id=222/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
<link>http://www.cato.org/people/richard-rahn</link>
<managingEditor>amast@cato.org (Andrew Mast)</managingEditor>
<description>
The Cato Institute seeks to broaden the parameters of public policy debate to allow consideration of the traditional American principles of limited government, individual liberty, free markets and peace. Toward that goal, the Institute strives to achieve greater involvement of the intelligent, concerned lay public in questions of policy and the proper role of government.
</description>
<language>en-us</language>

<item>
				<title>Clueless or Despotic? (Commentary)</title>
				<link>http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=10973</link>
				<description><![CDATA[Do you think people who refuse to (or cannot for whatever reason) purchase health insurance should be subject to a $250,000 fine and/or five years in jail?

Well, a slim majority of the U.S. House of Representatives seems to think such a draconian (and probably unconstitutional) measure is just fi...]]></description>
				<pubDate>Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST</pubDate>
				<guid>http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=10973</guid>
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				<title>Currency That Kills (Commentary)</title>
				<link>http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=10957</link>
				<description><![CDATA[Can you imagine how many people have physically handled your money? Do you know who has previously touched it? Did they have a flu virus or some other communicable disease that is transmitted by physical contact with an infected object? Physical paper currency is often dirty - not so much to the sig...]]></description>
				<pubDate>Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST</pubDate>
				<guid>http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=10957</guid>
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				<title>Choosing Fantasy or Facts (Commentary)</title>
				<link>http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=10938</link>
				<description><![CDATA[Tax cuts keep industry here and humming

Have you noticed that many politicians who have trouble dealing with reality also seem to prefer fantasyland when dealing with budgets?

Those on the left never stop claiming that problems will be solved if only tax rates are increased. Why then does Cali...]]></description>
				<pubDate>Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST</pubDate>
				<guid>http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=10938</guid>
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				<title>The Real Pay Scandal (Commentary)</title>
				<link>http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=10701</link>
				<description><![CDATA[Assume your boss told you that the only pay raise you and your fellow workers would ever receive would be a "cost of living" increase to keep up with inflation &#8212; which is no real increase &#8212; no matter how productive you were. Would this motivate you to work harder, or might you cut corner...]]></description>
				<pubDate>Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate>
				<guid>http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=10701</guid>
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				<title>Destructive 'Solutions' (Commentary)</title>
				<link>http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=10644</link>
				<description><![CDATA[For at least a century, the Washington political class has been correctly known for creating more problems than solving existing ones. This tendency to enact destructive, rather than constructive, solutions for problems (most often created by government) has now gone into hyper-drive. 

Many who s...]]></description>
				<pubDate>Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate>
				<guid>http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=10644</guid>
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				<title>The Worst Recession? (Commentary)</title>
				<link>http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=10634</link>
				<description><![CDATA[Is the current recession the worst since the Great Depression? Even though the president, many members of Congress and many journalists keep saying we are in the worst recession since the 1930s, it is an assertion that is premature, to say the least. 

At the end of World War II, from 1945 to 1946...]]></description>
				<pubDate>Wed, 14 Oct 2009 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate>
				<guid>http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=10634</guid>
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				<title>Stimulus Scam (Commentary)</title>
				<link>http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=10615</link>
				<description><![CDATA[Has the economic stimulus program helped or hurt? Administration officials keep saying the stimulus program has been beneficial, but where is the evidence?

There are several ways to see if it is working as advertised. First, what did the proponents say would happen when they were pushing the plan...]]></description>
				<pubDate>Thu, 08 Oct 2009 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate>
				<guid>http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=10615</guid>
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				<title>The Growing Debt Bomb (Commentary)</title>
				<link>http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=10563</link>
				<description><![CDATA[Assume you had put much of your savings into U.S. government bonds and then you learned the following. In just the last eight months, the Congressional Budget Office estimates of the amount of additional federal debt to be held by the public grew by an astounding $4 trillion for the 2010-19 period; ...]]></description>
				<pubDate>Tue, 22 Sep 2009 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate>
				<guid>http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=10563</guid>
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				<title>The Sensational Giles and O'Keefe (Commentary)</title>
				<link>http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=10546</link>
				<description><![CDATA[Do you think your tax dollars should be used to help those who want to open a house of prostitution and illegally bring underage girls into the United States as "sex workers"? As you may have seen on television over the last few days, the taxpayer-funded ACORN (Association of Community Organizations...]]></description>
				<pubDate>Wed, 16 Sep 2009 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate>
				<guid>http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=10546</guid>
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				<title>Bowing to the Global Tax Bullies (Commentary)</title>
				<link>http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=10524</link>
				<description><![CDATA[Do you think the Internal Revenue Service should have the right to share your tax information with foreign governments &#8212; even ones run by thugs and those that engage in human rights abuses and/or suppress freedom in their countries?

A meeting was held in Mexico City last week under the ausp...]]></description>
				<pubDate>Thu, 10 Sep 2009 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate>
				<guid>http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=10524</guid>
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				<title>Who Decides What (Commentary)</title>
				<link>http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=10503</link>
				<description><![CDATA[Do you think pedophiles should be given Viagra at taxpayers' expense? Despite what appears to be an absurd question, that is exactly what occurred in Britain under their National Health Service (NHS). 

Reports surfaced last week that a pedophile who had abused an 11-year-old girl had been spared ...]]></description>
				<pubDate>Wed, 02 Sep 2009 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate>
				<guid>http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=10503</guid>
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				<title>The French Model (Commentary)</title>
				<link>http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=10483</link>
				<description><![CDATA[Why does it appear France is bouncing back more quickly from the recession than the United States? France has long been known for having an economy that suffered from too much government interference, too-high taxes and destructive union activity. Yet it grew 1.4 percent in the second quarter of 200...]]></description>
				<pubDate>Wed, 26 Aug 2009 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate>
				<guid>http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=10483</guid>
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				<title>The Swedish Model (Commentary)</title>
				<link>http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=10462</link>
				<description><![CDATA[Do you think America would be better off with a Swedish-type welfare state? This question tends to evoke strong reactions from both the left and right, yet few understand Sweden's economic history and the revisions it has been making to its welfare-state model in recent years. Sweden was a very poor...]]></description>
				<pubDate>Tue, 18 Aug 2009 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate>
				<guid>http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=10462</guid>
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				<title>Double-Dip Recession? (Commentary)</title>
				<link>http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=10451</link>
				<description><![CDATA[We are likely to have a double-dip recession, and this is why. Your Uncle Sam has been having a hard time because he spends more than he makes. He engages in much unproductive behavior and wastes a lot of money on things that he doesn't really need. He is easily influenced by his irresponsible child...]]></description>
				<pubDate>Mon, 17 Aug 2009 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate>
				<guid>http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=10451</guid>
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				<title>Congress In Fantasyland (Commentary)</title>
				<link>http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=10421</link>
				<description><![CDATA[If Congress suddenly required every car and truck in America (all 250 million of them) to be immediately destroyed and replaced with new cars and trucks that got better gas mileage, would the country be worse off or better off? Those members of Congress who voted for the "cash for clunkers" program ...]]></description>
				<pubDate>Wed, 05 Aug 2009 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate>
				<guid>http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=10421</guid>
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				<title>The Trade Collapse (Commentary)</title>
				<link>http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=10386</link>
				<description><![CDATA[Worse than a deficit: Cycle of export declines and job losses

If the U.S. trade deficit were to disappear, do you think that would be a good or bad thing? For years, many in the media and the political world wailed about the U.S. trade deficit, but it is rapidly disappearing &#8212; and the conse...]]></description>
				<pubDate>Tue, 28 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate>
				<guid>http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=10386</guid>
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				<title>The Most Destructive Disease (Commentary)</title>
				<link>http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=10375</link>
				<description><![CDATA[Washingtonosis(n): a disease most often found in people working within three miles of the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, although pockets also are found in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. It tends to infect elected officials, government bureaucrats, those working in the media, "government r...]]></description>
				<pubDate>Wed, 22 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate>
				<guid>http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=10375</guid>
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				<title>Heavy Foot of Government (Commentary)</title>
				<link>http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=10357</link>
				<description><![CDATA[How old were you before you realized your actions could result in unintended consequences? Men create democratic governments to protect life, liberty and property. Yet much of what modern government does daily has the largely unintended consequence of endangering and/or reducing life, liberty and pr...]]></description>
				<pubDate>Wed, 15 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate>
				<guid>http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=10357</guid>
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				<title>The Expanding Fed Role (Commentary)</title>
				<link>http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=10337</link>
				<description><![CDATA[Why is it that those who specialize in individual athletic events hold almost all the records as contrasted with those who compete in the same events as part of a pentathlon? Like the athlete who tries to do everything (or at least five things), the Federal Reserve (the U.S. central bank) is becomin...]]></description>
				<pubDate>Wed, 08 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate>
				<guid>http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=10337</guid>
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				<title>More Tax Oppression (Commentary)</title>
				<link>http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=10327</link>
				<description><![CDATA[Why did a bare majority (219-212) of the members of the U.S. Congress vote for the largest tax increase in American history this past Friday, under the claim it was a vote to save the climate?

Before you answer the question, consider the following facts. The proponents claim this tax bill will re...]]></description>
				<pubDate>Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate>
				<guid>http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=10327</guid>
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				<title>A Rare Influence in the Lives of Others (Commentary)</title>
				<link>http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=10323</link>
				<description><![CDATA[Mary Lou Forbes was one of those rare people who changed many lives for the better. She had the courage to challenge prevailing opinion by running columns written by knowledgeable economic, political, scientific and social dissidents to provoke readers into thinking about the consequences of existin...]]></description>
				<pubDate>Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate>
				<guid>http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=10323</guid>
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				<title>Omens of a Downward Spiral (Commentary)</title>
				<link>http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=10311</link>
				<description><![CDATA[Victoria Station &#8212; look around this 150-year-old rail station and you can see the rise and fall, and rise and now again decline of the British nation. Victoria Station is just a few blocks from Buckingham Palace and was for many decades the connecting station with the "Continent" (Europe) and ...]]></description>
				<pubDate>Wed, 24 Jun 2009 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate>
				<guid>http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=10311</guid>
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				<title>Government Grinds the Gears (Commentary)</title>
				<link>http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=10299</link>
				<description><![CDATA[If you knew that baseball teams with winning records tended to be more profitable for their owners than those with losing records &#8212; and if you learned that the Baltimore Orioles had just been purchased by the major league umpire's union, would you expect the Orioles to win more or fewer games?...]]></description>
				<pubDate>Thu, 18 Jun 2009 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate>
				<guid>http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=10299</guid>
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				<title>Insuring Bankruptcy (Commentary)</title>
				<link>http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=10284</link>
				<description><![CDATA[If you were in debt, would you be more or less likely to increase your liabilities if you knew someone else would pay them off? Many children can quickly figure out the answer to this question, but it seems to be a real stumper for members of the House Financial Services Committee, chaired Rep. Barn...]]></description>
				<pubDate>Wed, 10 Jun 2009 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate>
				<guid>http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=10284</guid>
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				<title>Immaturity in Power (Commentary)</title>
				<link>http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=10273</link>
				<description><![CDATA[A sign of immaturity - most often found in children and certain politicians - is being in denial or even unaware of the consequences of one's actions. The global political class has always suffered from an excess of immaturity, but every generation or so, political immaturity explodes like a star in...]]></description>
				<pubDate>Fri, 05 Jun 2009 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate>
				<guid>http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=10273</guid>
			</item>
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				<title>Britain's New Revolution (Commentary)</title>
				<link>http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=10257</link>
				<description><![CDATA[Imagine reading a news report that "U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi resigned this morning, and it is expected that more than half of the members of Congress will either resign, choose not to run again or be defeated in next year's election."

This statement might seem to be a fa...]]></description>
				<pubDate>Fri, 29 May 2009 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate>
				<guid>http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=10257</guid>
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				<title>Europe's Worsening Crisis (Commentary)</title>
				<link>http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=10242</link>
				<description><![CDATA[Bratislava, Slovakia &#8212; This pleasant city on the Danube River is considered part of eastern Europe, although it is only as about as far from Vienna as Washington is from Baltimore (about 35 miles) and is, in fact, near the geographical center of the European continent. 

Slovakia was the poo...]]></description>
				<pubDate>Fri, 22 May 2009 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate>
				<guid>http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=10242</guid>
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