Assessing Trump’s First 100 Days in Office

Saturday, April 29th marks President Trump’s first 100 days in office. Cato scholar Gene Healy writes that “of the umpteen items in Trump’s ‘100-day action plan,’ unveiled last fall in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, he’s barely moved on most, reversed himself on others, and been stymied by Congress and the courts on the few where he’s made a serious push. The candidate who proclaimed ‘I alone can fix it’ is learning that, on the home front at least, our political system remains resistant to one-man rule.”

Cato scholars join Healy in evaluating Trump’s record in several policy areas, both against general principles and Trump’s own benchmarks and promises.

Trump’s Tax Reform Proposals a Good Start

The Trump administration has released proposals to guide the Republican push for major tax reform. The proposals are mainly supply side in nature, meaning cuts to marginal tax rates and other changes designed to increase economic growth. According to Cato scholar Chris Edwards, the proposals push tax reform in a good direction, though there are a few misguided parts.

Will China Solve the North Korea Problem?

The North Korea problem continues to worsen, as the Kim regime tests more nuclear weapons and develops longer range missiles. Tighter sanctions have proved little more effective than diplomatic entreaties. In a recent paper, Cato scholar Doug Bandow argues that Washington should develop a comprehensive diplomatic strategy to persuade the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to cooperate with the United States, South Korea, and Japan in pressing the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) to abandon its nuclear program.

Four Decades and Counting: The Continued Failure of the War on Drugs

Proponents of drug prohibition claim that such policies reduce drug-related crime, decrease drug-related disease and overdose, and are an effective means of disrupting and dismantling organized criminal enterprises. In a new study, Christopher J. Coyne and Abigail R. Hall analyze the theoretical underpinnings of these claims, using tools and insights from economics, and explore the economics of prohibition and the veracity of proponent claims by analyzing data on overdose deaths, crime, and cartels. The authors conclude that prohibition is not only ineffective, but counterproductive, at achieving the goals of policymakers both domestically and abroad.

Cato Institute 40th Anniversary

Recent Commentary

Events

May 1

The Soul of the First Amendment

Featuring the author Floyd Abrams, Senior Counsel, Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP; with comments by Ronald Collins, Harold S. Shefelman Scholar, University of Washington School of Law and Author, “First Amendment News,” Concurring Opinions blog; and Ilya Shapiro, Editor-in-Chief, Cato Supreme Court Review, Cato Institute; moderated by Roger Pilon, Director, Center for Constitutional Studies, Cato Institute.

12:00PM to 1:30PM
 Hayek Auditorium, Cato Institute

More Events

Of Special Note

New Audiobook – The Tyranny of Silence

The Tyranny of Silence

When the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten published cartoons of the prophet Muhammad in 2005, Denmark found itself at the center of a global battle about the freedom of speech. In The Tyranny of Silence, Flemming Rose, then the paper’s culture editor and principally responsible for publishing the cartoons, writes about the people and experiences that have influenced his understanding of the crisis, including meetings with dissidents from the former Soviet Union and ex-Muslims living in Europe. He provides a personal account of an event that has shaped the debate about what it means to be a citizen in a democracy and how to coexist in a world that is increasingly multicultural, multireligious, and multiethnic. Now available as a fully unabridged audiobook on Audible.com.

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

The Libertarian Mind Audiobook

The Libertarian Mind, by David Boaz, longtime executive vice president of the Cato Institute, is the best available guide to the history, ideas, and growth of libertarianism, and is the ultimate resource for the current, burgeoning libertarian movement. This acclaimed book is now available as a fully unabridged audiobook, ready for immediate downloading, on Audible.com.

Cato University: College of Economics

Cato University, the Cato Institute’s premier educational event of the year, will now be presented as a compact 3-day program several times a year, each with a different focus. This year’s inaugural program is based on the conviction that economics is a way of thinking, a tool for decision-making, and a basis for action. Discussions by Nobel Laureate Vernon Smith and top scholars and professors from Harvard University, Northwestern University, and the Cato Institute will solidify your expertise on basic economic principles, and then help you apply those tools to today’s most pressing issues.