Remembering David Koch

The directors and staff of the Cato Institute, and indeed friends of liberty throughout the world, are saddened by the passing of David Koch. David’s accomplishments as a businessman and philanthropist are estimable. But we most remember and admire him for his efforts to advance liberty in the United States and around the world, and his steadfast dedication to libertarian principles. The Institute, the Cato community, and our work benefited greatly from his service, insight, generosity, and example. We will not forget the many ways in which he contributed to our mission.

Legal Immigration Will Resolve America’s Real Border Problems

The U.S. government has allowed its asylum and border processing system to become overwhelmed. After numerous failed attempts to deter the flow or restrict asylum, the most realistic and humane way to control the border is for Congress and the administration to channel future immigrants into an orderly legal structure for coming to the country. In a new paper, Cato scholar David Bier offers five reforms that would make the asylum system manageable again and restore control over the border.

Overcoming Inertia: Why It’s Time to End the War in Afghanistan

The war in Afghanistan has become America’s longest war not because U.S. security interests necessitate it, nor because the battlefield realities are insurmountable, but because of inertia. In a new paper, Cato scholars John Glaser and John Mueller argue that a full political settlement built around a cease-fire and a withdrawal of U.S. military forces from Afghanistan is within reach—but only if policymakers are willing to make significant concessions to the Taliban and to dispense with erroneous rationales for continuing the fight.

The Libertarian Pioneers of School Choice

School choice is a central debate in education policy today, with advocates of charter schools, vouchers, and private schools arrayed against defenders of the government-run public schooling model. While many states have adopted some kind of school choice program, some politicians denounce this trend as a stalking horse for segregation or a corporatist dystopia. In the new issue of Cato Policy Report, Kevin Currie-Knight explains how understanding the views of 20th century libertarian theorists is critical to understanding the debate over school choice in the 21st century. Also in this issue, David Boaz discusses the pressure think tanks face in a time of rising partisanship and tribalism.

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Recent Commentary

How the Government Creates Wealth Inequality

Chris Edwards in National Review (Online)

Sanders and Warren are right to criticize crony capitalism as a cause of wealth inequality. But their big government approaches to social policy would have the opposite effect on wealth inequality than what they may believe.

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Of Special Note

The Inclusive Economy: How to Bring Wealth to America’s Poor

The Inclusive Economy: How to Bring Wealth to America's Poor

The Inclusive Economy: How to Bring Wealth to America’s Poor energetically challenges the conventional wisdom of both the right and the left that underlies much of the contemporary debate over poverty and welfare policy. Author and national public policy expert Michael Tanner takes to task conservative critiques of a “culture of poverty” for their failure to account for the structural circumstances in which the poor live. In addition, he criticizes liberal calls for fighting poverty primarily through greater redistribution of wealth and new government programs.

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Cato Pocket Constitution

To encourage people everywhere to better understand and appreciate the principles of government that are set forth in America’s founding documents, the Cato Institute published this pocket-size edition.

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Home Study Resources

The Cato Institute offers a wealth of online educational audio and video resources, from self-paced guides on the ideas of liberty and the principles of economics, to exclusive, archived lectures by thinkers such as Milton Friedman and F. A. Hayek. Browse through some highlights of our collections, for personal study or for use in the classroom.

Constitution Day 2019

Cato’s annual Constitution Day symposium marks the day in 1787 that the Constitutional Convention finished drafting the U.S. Constitution. We celebrate that event each year with the release of the new issue of the Cato Supreme Court Review and with a day-long symposium featuring noted scholars discussing the recently concluded Supreme Court term and the important cases coming up. Past speakers have included Judges Alex Kozinski, Diane Sykes, and Douglas Ginsburg, Professors Richard Epstein, Michael McConnell, and Nadine Strossen, and Supreme Court litigators Paul Clement, Neal Katyal, and Walter Dellinger.