Cato Quarterly

In September, Cato hosted a screening of Escaping Venezuela, a new documentary from Reason capturing the tyranny, poverty, collapse, and resistance in socialist Venezuela through the eyes of one man, Carlos Mora. After the state crushed his growing business, Mora devoted himself to helping judges, journalists, and other persecuted people flee the country, even at the cost of his own liberty. After the screening, Ian Vásquez (left), Cato’s vice president for international studies, led a discussion with Jim Epstein (right), the film’s director and executive editor of Reason; Germania Rodríguez Poleo (middle left), the film’s narrator and a Venezuelan journalist; and Jesús Armas (middle right), a Venezuelan political activist.

Ryan Bourne (right), Cato’s R. Evan Scharf Chair for the Public Understanding of Economics and editor of The Cato Institute Handbook on Affordability, hosted a panel with the cochairs of the Problem Solvers Caucus, Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (R‑PA, middle) and Tom Suozzi (D‑NY, left). “We at Cato think affordability has become pretty much an umbrella term for lots of different grievances,” Bourne said. “The biggest source of public anger has been the inflation surge that we’ve seen since 2021.” Fitzpatrick faulted both parties for policies that drive up living costs and emphasized the need for deregulation. Suozzi noted that massive annual deficits also fuel inflation, but was more open to raising taxes to bring them down. Despite coming from different ideological viewpoints, as Bourne observed, they all sought to “find ways of lowering the cost of living, rather than always talking about topping up people’s incomes with wage controls or subsidies.”

Legal scholars gathered on September 17 for a symposium marking the day in 1787 the Constitutional Convention finished drafting the Constitution. Thomas A. Berry, director of the Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies, introduced the day’s events with an appeal to independent thought, celebrating that the recently released Cato Supreme Court Review was possible only because the Institute could “invite a stellar lineup of authors and give them the freedom and trust to write what they want on this year’s biggest cases, and as always, they did not disappoint.” In the morning, scholars challenged key policies of the Trump administration. The early afternoon turned to criminal justice, followed by discussions about redistricting and threats to free speech. A final panel looked ahead to the Court’s October 2026 term.

Leading scholars, historians, and policymakers convened at Cato in September to discuss a defining feature of the American experiment: the close relationship between financial markets and economic growth. “One of the unique things about America is that from the very, very beginning of the nation, we had a robust banking and capital markets system,” said Norbert J. Michel, vice president of Cato’s Center for Monetary and Financial Alternatives, in his opening remarks. “In a short period of time, it grew to rival, if not surpass, the financial markets of every nation that existed at the time.” The conference began with a panel on the contrasting views of Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson. Other panels covered the ways that regulatory power constrains markets, as well as what the future may hold for financial markets in a rapidly changing world.

Nostalgia often discolors our hindsight. In historical memory, few things are as discolored as the myth of preindustrial life: green and pleasant, unspoiled yet by markets and industry. The Grim Old Days removes those rose-tinted lenses to reveal the preindustrial past as it actually was: an everyday struggle tied to chance and hardship. Chelsea Follett, a Cato research fellow and managing editor of Human​Progress​.org, reintroduces modern eyes to a world of famines and droughts, sewage and refuse, and the many now-unthinkable choices people were forced to make. The carefully assembled accounts of everyday people restore in searing detail their experiences. Follett illuminates not only a brutal world but also the unflagging resilience with which its inhabitants endured its ills to deliver the comforts we take for granted today

“Anyone believing the idealization of past days, so common in circles of ‘de-growth,’ should regard this book as mandatory reading.”
—Joel Mokyr, winner of the 2025 Nobel Prize in Economics, Northwestern University

As much of Europe embarked upon a course of regulation 25 years ago, one capital region quietly committed to a free-market revolution. In The Madrid Model: How Freedom and Openness Created an Economic Powerhouse, Diego Sánchez de la Cruz uncovers the full story of Madrid’s drive to lift the restraints upon its markets, integrate its growing and diverse peoples, and foster an economic boom amid Europe’s stagnation. Sánchez de la Cruz, head of research at Spain’s premier libertarian think tank, the Instituto Juan de Mariana, provides a sweeping historical narrative that navigates questions of individual freedom, federalism, and democratic legitimacy. In applying his theory of the strengths of liberal institutions to the reality of the Madrid miracle, he showcases to the rest of Europe and the world how limited and decentralized government can lead to exceptional prosperity and social cohesion.

“Madrid has been one of Europe’s biggest success stories. Here is where you can learn about its foundations and principles.” —Tyler Cowen, adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute and general director of the Mercatus Center at George Mason University

With the Fed set to scrutinize itself more closely, Jai Kedia, research fellow at Cato’s Center for Monetary and Financial Alternatives, sees a rare opportunity. Kedia offers a road map for the Fed to shrink its reach. He argues that if the Fed sets rates according to predictable rules, it can avoid precommitting itself— and investors—to forecasts. He also advocates that the Fed adopt a reduced and simplified balance sheet and show a greater openness and deference to private data sources. Kedia argues that a leaner, nimbler, and more rules-based Fed would produce sounder monetary policy and lessen its presence in financial markets.

As affordability takes center stage in American politics, 74 percent of Americans, including 66 percent of Republicans, believe that President Trump’s tariffs have raised consumer prices, according to Cato’s 2026 Fall Trade and Populism National Survey. More than half, 53 percent, say that tariffs have weakened the economy, while just 23 percent believe they’ve improved their quality of life. The findings come amid ongoing disputes over Trump’s authority to impose sweeping tariffs, which the Supreme Court curtailed in a landmark February ruling. Most Americans favor limits on presidential tariff powers, with 70 percent saying presidents should need congressional approval before imposing tariffs.