Book Forum 

# *How Progressives Rewrote the Constitution*

(Cato Institute, 2006)

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Date and Time 

February 15, 2006 1 - 3 PM EST 

Location 

Auditorium/Wintergarden 

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##### Featuring 

Featuring the author, **Richard A. Epstein,** University of Chicago Law School; and comments by **Michael Seidman,** Georgetown University Law Center. 

The Constitution was written and ratified to secure liberty through limited government. Central to its design were two principles: federalism and economic liberty. But at the beginning of the 20th century, Progressives began a frontal assault on those principles. Drawing on the new social sciences and a primitive understanding of economic relationships, their efforts reached fruition during the New Deal when the Constitution was essentially rewritten, without benefit of amendment. In a new Cato book, Richard Epstein traces this history, showing how Progressives replaced competitive markets with government-created cartels and monopolies. Please join us for a discussion of the roots of modern government in the Progressive Era.

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