# Preserving the American Dream 

June 20, 2023 • Study 

![3D people gathered in the shape of the United States](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/aside_3x/public/2023-07/preserving_hero_white-space.jpg?itok=U8Ls3VAg) 

# Preserving the American Dream 

June 20, 2023 • Study 

“The heart of the liberal philosophy is a belief in the dignity of the individual, in his freedom to make the most of his capacities and opportunities according to his own lights.”

–Milton Friedman

*All individuals should be free to pursue their idea of the American Dream. But bad ideas, collectivism, and misguided policies are endangering the American Dream for future generations.*

And yet, thanks to the support of our Sponsors, the Cato Institute was prepared to face these threats head-on in 2022, producing important victories for liberty and earning more support for our ideas and solutions. We have strategically invested in key policy areas where our voice will inform and guide the direction of our country, and we’re building on our successes to bring about the vision of a free, open, and prosperous society.

## Defending the Free Economy

#### New Talent: Amplifying Free-Market Solutions

![Portrait of Vanessa Brown Calder.](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/aside_mobile/public/2023-05/Vanessa-Brown-Calder-Transparent-Frame.png?itok=SJMMjVRM) 

Vanessa Brown Calder rejoined Cato in 2022 as the director of opportunity and family policy studies after a three-year stint as executive director and staff director at the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee, where she led the committee’s research and congressional hearing efforts under Chairman and Ranking Member Mike Lee (R‑UT). Calder is fighting against policies and regulations that hurt American workers and families. Since returning to Cato, Calder published articles in the *Wall Street Journal*, CNN​.com, *National Review*, *Governing*, and *Real Clear Health*, and testified to the Senate about how government policies have increased housing costs and reduced availability across much of the United States.

![Portrait of Adam N. Michel.](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/aside_mobile/public/2023-05/Adam-Michel-Transparent-Frame.png?itok=OSg2JGQB) 

Cato’s expertise on tax policy is often in demand, but with debates now centering on punitive wealth taxes and massive income tax hikes, our voice must be louder than ever. New director of tax policy studies Adam N. Michel, previously a senior staffer at the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee, will analyze the economic and budgetary effects of taxation in the United States and prescribe ideas for simplifying the tax code that policymakers can immediately put into action. Michel is a sought-after tax policy expert, regularly appearing on Fox News, CNN, and CNBC, and is widely published and quoted in the *Wall Street Journal*, the *New York Times*, the *Washington Post*, and elsewhere.

![Portrait of Romina Boccia.](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/aside_mobile/public/2023-05/Romina-Boccia-Transparent-Frame.png?itok=Oczb6qb1) 

Romina Boccia joined Cato as director of budget and entitlement policy after serving as director of the Grover M. Hermann Center for the Federal Budget at the Heritage Foundation. Her work focuses on preventing a severe U.S. fiscal crisis by restraining the federal budget leviathan. She hit the ground running in her new role by sharing her proposal for a bold new fiscal agenda in meetings with more than 25 members of the new Congress shortly after their arrival in Washington. Boccia is pushing for major reforms to entitlement policy, federal spending, and the budget process while continuing to educate the public on the economic implications of rising debt.

The generous support of our Sponsors allowed us to add more firepower to our team of economic experts who are promoting free market policies, highlighting how recent shortages and economic crises are the direct results of government intervention, and offering solutions to get our economy back on track.

The new additions join an already stellar lineup of experts, including Kilts Family Chair in Fiscal Studies Chris Edwards, a vocal critic of claims that more taxing and spending will reduce inflation. He was cited in the *Wall Street Journal*, on Fox News, and elsewhere, saying that while raising taxes on corporations is an easy political target, experts—including those on the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation—agree that these policies can lower wages for employees, create higher prices for consumers, and reduce investment returns for people with retirement funds.

Equally important as reaching policymakers with our free-market solutions is ensuring that our economics work is accessible to the average American. This is the work of Ryan Bourne, the R. Evan Scharf Chair for the Public Understanding of Economics. Bourne is invited to testify on critical economic issues facing everyday Americans, and he educates the public on the benefits of free markets (and the government’s role in worsening inflation, reducing wages, and increasing prices of goods and services) in frequent op-eds, including a weekly economics column in the UK’s *The Times*.

#### Kilts Family Establishes Chair in Fiscal Studies

![Portrait of Chris Edwards.](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/aside_mobile/public/2023-05/Chris-Edwards-Transparent-Frame_0.png?itok=MmZhZxvS) 

Jim Kilts, a member of Cato’s board of directors, partnered with the Institute to establish the Kilts Family Chair in Fiscal Studies, held by tax and budget scholar Chris Edwards. Edwards is a 20-year veteran of the Cato Institute who previously served as senior economist for the congressional Joint Economic Committee. Among his many achievements, Edwards developed the Down​siz​ing​Gov​ern​ment​.org platform and helped spur the movement for lower corporate taxes, as prescribed in the book *Global Tax Revolution: The Rise of Tax Competition and the Battle to Defend It*, which he coauthored with Daniel J. Mitchell.

#### Diverse Economic Luminaries Gather at Cato to Defend Free Markets

Cato’s well-earned reputation for trustworthy, nonpartisan research on economic policies and principles attracts economic thought leaders and policymakers across the ideological spectrum to Cato HQ to discuss market freedom.

![Jason Furman speaking at a Cato Institute event.](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/aside_mobile/public/2023-05/WEB-Furman.jpg?itok=weStI2q6) 

Jason Furman, chief economist for President Barack Obama

![Douglas Holtz-Eakin speaks at a Cato event.](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/aside_mobile/public/2023-05/WEB-Holtz-Eakin.jpg?itok=seUB8Tg1) 

Douglas Holtz-Eakin, president of the conservative American Action Forum and former director of the Congressional Budget Office

![Kemi Badenoch speaks at a Cato event](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/aside_mobile/public/2023-05/WEB-Badenoch.jpg?itok=IohCZm5c) 

Kemi Badenoch, MP, the UK’s secretary of state for international trade

Influential voices—including Jason Furman, chief economist for President Barack Obama, and Douglas Holtz-Eakin, president of the conservative American Action Forum and former director of the Congressional Budget Office—spoke at Cato’s event “New Challenges to the Free Economy”, which aired on C‑SPAN. Kemi Badenoch, MP, the UK’s secretary of state for international trade, spoke at Cato during her visit to Washington, DC, to promote U.S.-UK trade.

![40th Monetary Conference graphic](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/aside_3x/public/2023-07/MonCon%202022_WebBackground.jpg?itok=CYEuNxXM) 

The 40th Annual Monetary Conference was a must-see event and was mentioned in more than **100 articles and television programs.**

Cato president and CEO **Peter Goettler** moderated a televised conversation about the threat of rising inflation with Federal Reserve Board chair **Jerome Powell.**

## Trade Free and Prosper

#### New Talent: Expanding the Free Trade Movement

![Portrait of Clark Packard.](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/aside_mobile/public/2023-05/Clark-Packard-Transparent-Frame.png?itok=UkFgVszS) 

![Portrait of Daniel Griswold.](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/aside_mobile/public/2023-05/Daniel-Griswold-Transparent-Frame.png?itok=04nishXo) 

Cato welcomed new experts to the trade policy team who are advancing Cato’s mission by demonstrating how protectionist trade policies hurt U.S. workers and consumers.

Clark Packard joined Cato as a research fellow, bringing with him years of experience focusing on international trade policy at the R Street Institute and the National Taxpayers Union.

Daniel Griswold, former director of the Herbert A. Stiefel Center for Trade Policy Studies and former codirector of the trade and immigration project at the Mercatus Center, came back to the Institute as an adjunct scholar.

Vice president of general economics and the Herbert A. Stiefel Center for Trade Policy Studies Scott Lincicome and research fellow Alfredo Carrillo Obregon brought their research to life with the release of the digital scrollytelling experience “The (Updated) Case for Free Trade.” Sen. Patrick Toomey (R‑PA) delivered the keynote address at a policy forum for the study, applauding the work as both comprehensive and persuasive.

In addition to its circulation to a massive online audience through Cato’s social media accounts, the study was delivered to more than 100 members of Congress. Several senior policy advisers on Capitol Hill expressed their appreciation for this latest submission on a centuries-old debate, and social media users testified to its creative brilliance in presenting digestible data on a complex topic.

The (Updated) Case for Free Trade

By Scott Lincicome and Alfredo Carrillo Obregon

[![Read now](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/4957480/de6d9df0-3b1a-47b2-9cd9-19c956be6c72.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/4957480/de6d9df0-3b1a-47b2-9cd9-19c956be6c72) hbspt.cta.load(4957480, 'de6d9df0-3b1a-47b2-9cd9-19c956be6c72', {"useNewLoader":"true","region":"na1"}); 

*“Not only is ‘The (Updated) Case for Free Trade’ fun to read, it also LOOKS great. Seriously.”*

*The Soul of Enterprise* podcast

## Protecting Your (Digital) Wallet

The right to transact as you wish, with whom you wish, and when you wish is a fundamental civil right—one that Cato scholars vehemently defend against government overreach. Long before President Biden issued an executive order instructing federal agencies to develop regulatory frameworks for cryptocurrency, Cato scholars were educating members of Congress on policy proposals that would mitigate financial risk and protect financial privacy, while also fostering innovation and entrepreneurship.

Norbert Michel, vice president and director of the Center for Monetary and Financial Alternatives (CMFA), and Jennifer Schulp, director of financial regulation studies, regularly engaged congressional offices on regulation of cryptocurrencies and monetary policy. A bill backed by Rep. Trey Hollingsworth (R‑IN) mirrors a proposal authored by Michel and Schulp on regulating stablecoins (cryptocurrency tied to “stable” reserve assets, such as the U.S. dollar). Another bill, introduced by Rep. Tom Emmer (R‑MN), would prohibit the establishment of a retail central bank digital currency, incorporating elements of another CMFA proposal.

Michel and Schulp also regularly appear in the media to educate the public on government policies that would strip Americans of financial privacy and exert greater control of their money. Norbert’s articles about the effects of government policy on our lives appear regularly in *Forbes*. In 2022, Schulp’s op-eds on cryptocurrency and financial privacy were published in *National Review, The Hill, Reason, New York Daily News*, and *NBC News*.

## Busting the Inequality Myth

In 2018, economist and adjunct scholar John Early published a Cato paper, “Reassessing the Facts about Inequality, Poverty, and Redistribution.” Early then teamed up with economist Robert Ekelund and former U.S. senator Phil Gramm to expand on this research. Their 2022 book, *The Myth of American Inequality: How Government Biases Policy Debate,* documented how the government relies on faulty data to exaggerate inequality and justify further intervention in the economy. Cato amplified the book’s release with an interactive digital product that brings the book’s data sets to life, allowing the findings to reach new audiences online.

The Myth of American Income Inequality

By John F. Early

[![Read now](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/4957480/6a3888cb-16b9-4abc-9147-7c41ce9594fe.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/4957480/6a3888cb-16b9-4abc-9147-7c41ce9594fe) hbspt.cta.load(4957480, '6a3888cb-16b9-4abc-9147-7c41ce9594fe', {"useNewLoader":"true","region":"na1"}); 

*“At a time when partisan tribalism makes serious discussion almost impossible in Washington, this book shows that economics is still a powerful tool kit for informing and disciplining our thinking across the political divide.”*

—Charles Calomiris 
*Wall Street Journal*

## An Explosion of School Choice

In 2022, Cato celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Center for Educational Freedom (CEF), a leading voice for liberty and choice in education from pre‑K to college. In those two decades, the Center has laid the groundwork for incredible policy successes, including expanding education savings accounts, scholarship tax credits, and more freedom from regulation for private schools and homeschooling.

#### 20 States Have Launched or Expanded Private School Choice Programs since 2020

![School choice map visualization](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/aside_mobile/public/2023-05/SchoolChoice.png?itok=l9Ucedqq) 

Cato has been a leading voice for educational choice since the 1980s, paving the way for an explosion in school choice across the country in the wake of the pandemic, with 20 states launching or expanding private school choice programs since 2020. Cato policy briefings urging universal choice helped bring about Arizona’s new Empowerment Scholarship Account program. By allocating $7,000 a year to parents for educational purposes—including private school tuition, home education expenses, educational therapies, and tutoring—Arizona has created the new gold standard in school choice.

## Illegal and Unconstitutional: Biden’s Student Loan Forgiveness Plan

The Cato 2022 Student Debt Cancellation National Survey conducted by Cato’s director of polling Emily Ekins, found that:

64%

**Nearly two‐​thirds** of Americans oppose cancellation if forgiving $10,000 per borrower raises their taxes…

68%

…*or* if it primarily **benefits higher income people.**

Cato’s education experts brought much-needed attention to one of the biggest problems in higher education: extraordinary price inflation. CEF has long pointed to the inflationary effects of federal student aid programs and has played a powerful role in pushing back against calls for “free” college and mass student debt cancellation.

Shortly after President Biden announced in August 2022 he would cancel large swaths of federal student loan debt, Cato filed suit in federal court challenging the legality of the move. Cato scholars immediately advanced to the front lines of the fight against mass cancellation, pointing out the illegality, inflationary effects, and immorality of this move, which forces taxpayers—including those who economized on college or paid off their loans—to bail out those who took out student loans.

![student debt cancellation](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/aside_3x/public/2023-07/student_debt_cancellation%201%20%281%29-min.png?itok=vzUE3kHO) 

In September of 2022, CEF Director Neal McCluskey participated in a special debate episode of *Dr. Phil* as a leading opponent of Biden’s federal student debt cancellation plans.

“It’s bad enough that we have student loan programs that are unconstitutional to begin with, 

but now we’ve just destroyed the basic separation of powers in the federal government.” 

Neal McCluskey 

“Forcing taxpayers to pick up the tab for other people’s college loans is bad policy, but in the case of President Biden’s order, it is also illegal, because neither President Biden nor the Department of Education has the power to cancel student loans without congressional authorization.”

Peter Goettler

## Pioneering Peace in Foreign Policy

Cato is the think tank pioneer of a foreign policy based on realism and restraint. This has long been a lonely enterprise, but our principled position is becoming a much more prominent foreign policy stance and a major influence in national foreign policy debates. Immediately following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the media and government seemed aligned in a crusade to portray the Ukrainian resistance as being fundamentally about U.S. security. Director of defense and foreign policy studies Justin Logan and his team publicly warned the Biden administration against reckless decisions like a U.S.-led no-fly zone, which would have meant U.S. troops entering the war. In *Foreign Policy,* Logan argued that Russia’s dismal performance in Ukraine showed that “Europe is rich and strong enough to defend itself. But the Europeans won’t do so unless the United States stops doing it for them.”

Logan and other members of Cato’s foreign policy team consulted with Republican senators skeptical of providing Ukraine a blank check of U.S. weapons, discussing messaging and strategy in Ukraine as well as U.S. foreign policy generally. Ultimately, 11 senators voted against the $40 billion Ukraine aid package—the clearest indication that “momentum for more restrained foreign posture … is being sustained with systemic efforts,” according to an article in *Axios.*

![At the event “Reducing Risk from Arms Sales,” Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-CA) discusses current efforts to weigh and mitigate risks that the sale of U.S. weapons can pose.](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/aside_mobile/public/2023-05/WEB-Jacobs.jpg?itok=U40jFAA4) 

At the event “Reducing Risk from Arms Sales,” **Rep. Sara Jacobs (D‑CA)** discusses current efforts to weigh and mitigate risks that the sale of U.S. weapons can pose.

Policy analyst Jordan Cohen and senior fellow Trevor Thrall produced the fourth Arms Sales Risk Index, which measures the negative outcomes of arms sales and assesses the risks involved in selling arms to other nations. In the House’s version of the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act, 25 amendments dealt with restricting arms transfers. Twelve of those amendments included recommendations from Cato scholars. Cohen engaged the offices of Rep. Sara Jacobs (D‑CA), Rep. Norma Torres (D‑CA), Rep. Ilhan Omar (D‑MN), and Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D‑WA) on this issue.

Partly in response to the recommendations made by Cato scholars in the Arms Sales Risk Index and in private meetings over the past three years, the Department of State created the Human Rights Reporting Gateway, a portal for collecting reports of gross violations of human rights committed by non‑U.S. security forces. The portal seeks to hold the State Department in compliance with the Leahy law, which prohibits the U.S. government’s use of funds to assist foreign security forces where credible information indicates human rights violations.

#### Report Home 

[2022 Annual Report Home](/annual-reports/cato-institute-2022-annual-report) 

#### Next Chapter 

[Strengthening the Foundations of Freedom](/study/strengthening-foundations-freedom) 

#### Reading List 

January 18, 2022 

##### [2021 Arms Sales Risk Index](/study/2021-arms-sales-risk-index) 

By [A. Trevor Thrall](https://www.cato.org/people/trevor-thrall) and [Jordan Cohen](https://www.cato.org/people/jordan-cohen) 

May 19, 2022 

##### [The (Updated) Case for Free Trade](/study/free-trade) 

By [Scott Lincicome](https://www.cato.org/people/scott-lincicome) and [Alfredo Carrillo Obregon](https://www.cato.org/people/alfredo-carrillo-obregon) 

September 1, 2022 

##### [New Poll: 76% of Americans Oppose Student Debt Cancellation if It Drives up the Price of College, 64% Oppose if It Raises Taxes](/blog/new-poll-76-americans-oppose-student-debt-cancellation-it-drives-price-college-64-oppose-it) 

By [Emily Ekins](https://www.cato.org/people/emily-ekins) 

September 20, 2022 

##### [The Myth of American Income Inequality](/study/myth-american-income-inequality) 

By [John F. Early](https://www.cato.org/people/john-f-early) 

December 16, 2022 

##### [Survey: 55 Percent of Private Schools See Enrollment Rise](/survey-reports/survey-55-percent-private-schools-see-enrollment-rise) 

By [Neal McCluskey](https://www.cato.org/people/neal-mccluskey) 

April 1, 2022 

##### [Reducing Risk from Arms Sales](/events/reducing-risk-arms-sales) 

Featuring Rep. Sara Jacobs (D‑CA), Jeff Abramson, [Jordan Cohen](https://www.cato.org/people/jordan-cohen), & [Eric Gomez](https://www.cato.org/people/eric-gomez) 

September 8, 2022 

##### [Cato Institute’s 40th Annual Monetary Conference](/events/40th-annual-monetary-conference) 

Featuring Claudio Borio, [Tyler Goodspeed](https://www.cato.org/people/tyler-goodspeed), Megan Greene, Neil Irwin, Mervyn King, Christopher Mims, David Musto, Jerome H. Powell, Eswar S. Prasad, Vincent R. Reinhart, [Thomas J. Sargent](https://www.cato.org/people/thomas-sargent), [George Selgin](https://www.cato.org/people/george-selgin), Lawrence H. Summers, Nick Timiraos, Kevin Warsh, [Lawrence H. White](https://www.cato.org/people/lawrence-white), & Patricia Zobel 

October 6, 2022 

##### [New Challenges to the Free Economy](/events/new-challenges-free-economy-left-right) 

Featuring [Ryan Bourne](https://www.cato.org/people/ryan-bourne), Jason Furman, Douglas Holtz-Eakin, Hal Varian, Adam S. Posen, Susan Houseman, Casey B. Mulligan, [Jeffrey Miron](https://www.cato.org/people/jeffrey-miron), Elisabeth Kempf, [Jennifer Huddleston](https://www.cato.org/people/jennifer-huddleston), Joshua D. Wright, Aurelien Portuese, Arvind Panagariya, Robert Atkinson, Matthew Mitchell, James Broughel, [Bryan Caplan](https://www.cato.org/people/bryan-caplan), [Vanessa Brown Calder](https://www.cato.org/people/vanessa-calder), Alan Cole, & Marc Goldwein 

![AR 22 - Render for Promo Block](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/promo_block_book_cover_1x/public/2023-08/ar-render-final.jpg?itok=eYs_hmBB) 

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