The Ideal U.S.-U.K. Free Trade Agreement: A Free Trader’s Perspective

Many good reasons exist to negotiate and conclude a bilateral trade agreement between the United States and the United Kingdom. One of the best reasons is that it affords two of the world’s largest economies — both deeply committed to the institutions of free-market capitalism and the rule of law — the opportunity to break new ground and pioneer the rules of a genuinely liberalizing 21st-century trade agreement. In a new paper, Daniel J. Ikenson, Simon Lester, and Daniel Hannan describe the principles that should be reflected — as well as the substantive issues, elements, and provisions that should be included — in what free traders would consider the ideal free trade agreement between the United States and the United Kingdom.

Who Participates? An Analysis of School Participation Decisions in Two Voucher Programs in the United States

Not all school choice programs are created equal. Policy design differs greatly across states. Because voucher-using families use public education dollars that would have otherwise gone to government schools, taxpayers and government officials are often highly concerned about the quality of private schools these families choose for their children. Government regulations are largely the result of these concerns. In a new paper, Corey A. DeAngelis and Blake Hoarty find significant evidence to suggest that regulations deter high-quality private schools from participating in voucher programs in Ohio and Milwaukee.

Tax Reform and Interstate Migration

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 was the largest overhaul of the federal income tax in decades. The law changed deductions, exemptions, and tax rates for individuals, while reducing taxes on businesses. More than 86 percent of middle- and higher-income households received an individual tax cut. Most lower-income households do not pay income taxes, but many of them received increased benefits from refundable credits. There were also major changes to state and local tax (SALT) deductions, which might make households more sensitive to tax differences between states. In a new bulletin, Cato scholar Chris Edwards examines the changes to individual income taxes, and their effects on migration between the states.

The Man Behind Trump’s Tariffs

Peter Navarro is an economist and director of the Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy (OTMP), a White House agency created by President Trump. He is one of the rare economists to occupy a high-level advisory role in the White House. In the new issue of Regulation, Pierre Lemieux examines how Navarro, once a promoter of free markets and free trade, became a stiff protectionist. Also in this issue, Ryan Bourne looks at the regressive effects of child-care regulations, and Thomas A. Lambert and Michael E. Sykuta discuss antitrust scholars’ alarm over large institutional investors’ “common ownership” of competing businesses.

Recent Commentary

Events

September 20

The Liberal International Order: Past, Present, and Future

Featuring Patrick Porter, Professor of International Security and Strategy, University of Birmingham and Senior Associate Fellow, Royal United Services Institute; Michael Mazarr, Senior Political Scientist, RAND Corporation; Jake Sullivan, Senior Fellow, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and Co-chair, National Security Action; moderated by Christopher Preble, Vice President for Defense and Foreign Policy Studies, Cato Institute.

11:00AM to 12:15PM EDT
Hayek Auditorium, Cato Institute

September 20

The Indian Child Welfare Act at 40

Featuring Timothy Sandefur, Vice President for Litigation at the Goldwater Institute, and author, Escaping the ICWA Penalty Box; Matthew McGill, Partner, Washington, D.C., office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher; Charles Rothfeld, Visiting Clinical Lecturer in Law, Yale Law School; counsel at the firm of Mayer Brown; moderated by Walter Olson, Senior Fellow, Cato Institute, Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies.

12:00PM to 1:30PM EDT
Richard and Sue Ann Masson Policy Center, Cato Institute

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Of Special Note

Monetary Policy in an Uncertain World

Monetary Policy in an Uncertain World: Ten Years after the Crisis

Ten years after the 2008 financial crisis we are again facing the possibility of economic turmoil as the Fed and other central banks exit their unconventional monetary policies. Although central banks will move gradually, unforeseen circumstances could trigger a flight to safety and a collapse of asset prices. Contributors to this new Cato Institute book draw lessons from the decade of unconventional monetary policies and offer proposals for reducing monetary uncertainty, including adopting a rules-based monetary regime.

Special! 10 Copies for $10

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.

Now Available

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.

The Supreme Court: Past and Prologue
A Look at the October 2017 and 2018 Terms

The annual Constitution Day symposium, presented by Cato’s Center for Constitutional Studies, 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.