Farm Bill Spending Up 49 Percent

The House on Wednesday passed a $956 billion compromise farm bill, which makes only modest cuts to the bloated food stamp program. The bill now moves on to the Senate. Says Cato scholar Chris Edwards, “Farm bill supporters claim that the new bill includes ‘savings’ and ‘cuts,’ but that is a myth… The reality is that Congress is set to impose a huge, damaging, and unaffordable burden on taxpayers and the economy.”

Cato Scholars Respond to the 2014 State of the Union

State of the Union 2014

In this video response, Cato Institute scholars Alex Nowrasteh, Aaron Ross Powell, Trevor Burrus, Benjamin H. Friedman, Simon Lester, Neal McCluskey, Mark Calabria, Daniel J. Mitchell, Justin Logan, Patrick J. Michaels, Walter Olson and Jim Harper respond to President Obama’s 2014 State of the Union Address.

Obamacare: What We Know Now

For all intents and purposes, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare, has been fully implemented. And while much of the media coverage has been dominated by the technical failures of the program’s initial rollout, we are also learning much about the impact of health care reform on employers, providers, patients, taxpayers, and individual consumers. In a new study, Cato scholar Michael D. Tanner illustrates how the law’s problems go far beyond a failed website.

Growth without Poverty Reduction: The Case of Costa Rica

Even though Costa Rica has enjoyed a healthy growth rate for over 25 years, the proportion of Costa Ricans living below the poverty line remains pretty much the same as it did in 1994.  A new paper from Cato scholar Juan Carlos Hidalgo analyzes this phenomenon, and concludes that Costa Rica’s economic model is still in significant ways based on a mercantilist system that is biased in favor of certain sectors of the economy.  Hidalgo argues, “Costa Rica needs genuine market reforms that eliminate the government’s power to pick winners and losers or otherwise bestow favoritism.

Recent Commentary

Events

February 6

Stumbling Giant: The Threats to China’s Future

Featuring the author Timothy Beardson, Founder, Crosby Financial Holdings; with comments by Phillip L. Swagel, Professor in International Economic Policy, University of Maryland School of Public Policy; moderated by James A. Dorn, Vice President for Monetary Studies and Senior Fellow, Cato Institute.

12:00pm Hayek Auditorium

More Events

Of Special Note

The Conscience of the Constitution: The Declaration of Independence and the Right to Liberty

The Conscience of the Constitution: The Declaration of Independence and the Right to Liberty

Timothy Sandefur’s insightful new book documents a vital, forgotten truth: our Constitution was written to secure liberty, not to empower democracy. Yet today’s overemphasis on democracy has helped expand the scope of government power at the expense of individual rights. Now, more than ever, the Declaration of Independence should be the framework for interpreting our fundamental law. It is the conscience of the Constitution.

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.

2014 Milton Friedman Prize

Attend the 2014 Milton Friedman Prize Biennial Dinner

The Milton Friedman Prize for Advancing Liberty, named in honor of perhaps the greatest champion of liberty in the 20th century, is presented every other year to an individual who has made a significant contribution to advance human freedom. The prize, a cash award of $250,000, will be presented at the Milton Friedman Prize for Advancing Liberty’s Biennial Dinner on May 21, 2014, in New York City at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel.