Regulatory Studies

Candy-Coated Cartel: Time to Kill the U.S. Sugar Program

For decades, the federal government has been operating a program to control the production and importation of sugar. One of the program’s main purposes is to ensure minimum price levels for sugar that are typically significantly higher than those found on international markets, leading to higher costs for U.S. consumers. As a result, the federal government is, in essence, the leader of a nationwide sugar cartel. In a new paper, Cato scholar Colin Grabow explains the origins of the sugar program, and evaluates opportunities for its potential reform or abolition.

Tesla Takes On Michigan

In the area of technology and startup innovation, new market entrants routinely find themselves besieged by analog-age incumbents hijacking the levers of government in an attempt to squelch competition. Nowhere is that phenomenon more apparent than at the state and local level. In a new paper, technology entrepreneur and former federal prosecutor Will Zerhouni looks at Michigan legislative restrictions on Tesla as a case study of state and local interference with free-market operations.

Cato Studies

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Of Special Note

Frederick Douglass: Self-Made Man

Frederick Douglass: Self-Made Man

Born into slavery in 1818, Frederick Douglass rose to become a preeminent American intellectual and activist who, as statesman, author, lecturer, and scholar, helped lead the fight against slavery and racial oppression. Unlike many other leading abolitionists, Douglass embraced the U.S. Constitution, believing it to be an essentially anti-slavery document guaranteeing that individual rights belonged to all Americans, of all races. This biography from Cato scholar Timothy Sandefur takes a fresh look at the life and inspirational legacy of one of America’s most passionate and dedicated thinkers.

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.

Cato University: College of History and Philosophy

History is indispensable to understanding and defending liberty under our constitutionally limited, representative government. And at the core of that history are the philosophical beliefs and values on which the American republic was founded. Cato University’s College of History and Philosophy, August 2-4 in San Diego, brings these two powerful subjects together to explore the foundations of liberty and justice, of wealth and poverty, of individual rights and the rule of law.