Cato Event Podcast

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Podcast of policy and book forums, Capitol Hill briefings and other events from the Cato Institute

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Episodes

Ben Franklin: Conservative, Libertarian, or Radical Democrat?

Franklin is back! With the creative assistance of a direct descendant, Ben Franklin has now finished writing his memoirs. When Franklin died in 1790, he left unrecorded the last 33 years of his illustrious career as signer of the Declaration of Independence, ambassador to France, and delegate to the Constitutional Convention. Now the rest of the story can be told. Mark Skousen, a university professor and professional economist, drew upon Franklin's private letters and journals to publish The Com...

Jan 19, 2006•56 min

Advancing Economic Freedom in the Middle East

The United States has signed free trade agreements with four Middle Eastern countries--Israel, Jordan, Morocco, and Bahrain--and plans to sign a fifth with Oman this month. The hope behind the U.S. policy is that expanding economic freedom and openness in the Middle East will create private-sector opportunities in a region plagued by high trade barriers and stagnant growth. Can freer markets bring more democracy and peace to the region? Two speakers from Oman, one of the freest and most open eco...

Jan 18, 2006•1 hr 17 min

Electing to Fight: Why Emerging Democracies Go to War

The promotion of democracy is a top foreign policy priority for both Republicans and Democrats. Many political scientists argue that promoting democracy is sound policy because democracies do not go to war with each other; thus, more democracies should equal less war. But what are the risks of democratization? In Electing to Fight: Why Emerging Democracies Go to War, Edward D. Mansfield and Jack Snyder argue that the process of democratization -- when incomplete or undertaken prematurely -- ofte...

Jan 12, 2006•1 hr 23 min

Blakely’s Wake: Should the Federal Sentencing Guidelines Be Saved or Scrapped?

The federal criminal justice system is in disarray. Each week some 1,200 people are sentenced in federal court, but the legality of these sentences is suddenly in doubt. That is because the Supreme Court recently held that the constitutional right to trial by jury requires that any factor that can be used to increase the amount of prison time that a defendant will serve must be proven to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt. The ruling in Blakely v. Washington initially invalidated the sentencing sy...

Aug 26, 2004•1 hr 39 min

Should We Welcome a Libertarian Future?

David Boaz is the executive vice president of the Cato Institute, and has played a key role in both the Institute's development and the growth of the American libertarian movement at large. Charles Murray is a political scientist, author, and scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. William A. Galston currently holds the Ezra Zilkha Chair in the Brookings Institution's Governance Studies Program, where he serves as a senior fellow. Robert J. Shapiro is co-founder and chairman of Sonecon, LL...

Apr 23, 1997•1 hr 24 min

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