RSS Amplifier

Podcast

Cato Podcast

Each week on Cato Podcast , leading scholars and policymakers from the Cato Institute delve into the big ideas shaping our world: individual liberty, limited government, free markets, and peace. Whether unpacking current events, debating civil liberties, exploring technological innovation, or tracing the history of classical liberal thought, we promise insightful analysis grounded in rigorous research and Cato’s signature libertarian perspective. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more…

cato.orgSource feed ↗10 episodes

Live Last read · last published · next check

Latest episodes

Saves to your Listen queue, to pick up on another day or another device.

How to Spot a Wrong Number

A number that's precise, dramatic, and politically convenient should raise your suspicion, not lower it. Aaron Brown, author of Wrong Number: How to Extract Truth from a Blizzard of Quantitative Disinformation , joins Cato's Ryan Bourne to break down the warning signs of a bad statistic, from missing context to claims that arrive straight from a press release. Hosted on Acast. See…

Play

Heller's Sequel Has a New Weapon

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear Vermont versus Cook County, its biggest Second Amendment case since Heller. The Cato Institute's Clark Neily, who worked on the original Heller case, joins Rikki Schlott to explain what's at stake for the 20 to 25 million Americans who already own an AR-15 style rifle. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Play

How Do You Solve A Problem Like Affordability?

Rep. Kevin Fitzpatrick (R) and Rep. Thomas Suozzi (D) lead one of Washington's only bipartisan caucuses, the Problem Solvers Caucus, and they've teamed up on an affordability agenda that touches housing, energy, health care, and immigration. Ryan Bourne walks through where their plan overlaps with Cato's own affordability handbook, and where free market and interventionist solutions still diverge.…

Play

Can Government Run a Grocery Store?

New York City Mayor Mamdani wants five city owned grocery stores selling staples 30% below cost, at $70 million to build and $100 million a year to run. Cato's Rikki Schlott talks with Don Boudreaux about why private supermarkets survive on 2% profit margins, and what actually happens when government tries to run a store. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Play

Bad Ways To Improve Housing Affordability

Nearly 60% of housing markets in the United States have been characterized as “unaffordable.” Cato's Ryan Bourne talks with Howard Husock of the American Enterprise Institute about why rent freezes, vouchers, and government run housing tend to make the problem worse, using New York City as a cautionary case study. They lay out what actually works instead: zoning reform, faster permitting, and more…

Play

The Eternal Quest for More Tariffs

Earlier this year the Supreme Court ruled that the president could not use the "International Emergency Economic Powers Act" (IEEPA) to impose tariffs and the administration immediately turned to other legal mechanisms to assert that power. Laura Bondank-Harmon interviews Clark Neily and Ilya Somin to unpack the legal battles over Trump’s tariffs, the statutes the administration is now invoking,…

Play

Wealth Taxes Failed Abroad. Why Try Them Here?

Most rich countries that tried annual wealth taxes eventually scrapped them, but now California and Elizabeth Warren want to run the experiment in the United States. Ryan Bourne talks with Adam Michel about how a “modest” 3 percent levy can swallow 60 percent of an asset’s 5 percent return—and leave workers footing much of the bill. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Play

Iran: Schrodinger's War

The conflict with Iran is simultaneously ending and escalating, and Justin Logan says that's no accident. He tells the Cato Institute's Laura Bondank-Harmon why the strategic case never existed, even as the death toll, price tag, and oil prices keep climbing. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Play

AI: Must We Act Now?

Artificial intelligence could transform productivity, employment, and living standards. But does that mean governments should “act now” to “steer” the technology? Economist John Cochrane joins Cato’s Ryan Bourne to explain why he thinks a prominent economists’ letter gets the problem wrong, whether fears of mass job loss are justified, and how speculation about AI’s potential is already shaping…

Play

Happy 60th Birthday, Now Pay the Bill

Medicare spent $1.2 trillion in 2025 and still can't show it's saving lives. The Cato Institute's Laura Bondank-Harmon is joined by Michael Cannon and David Hyman to mark the program's 60th anniversary, explaining how it broke health care pricing and why "Medicare for All" would only make it worse. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Play