Cato Daily Podcast
The Cato Daily Podcast allows Cato Institute scholars and other commenters to discuss relevant news and libertarian thought in a conversational, informal manner. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Best of Cato Daily Podcast: By the People: Rebuilding Liberty without Permission

Caleb O. Brown hosted the Cato Daily Podcast for nearly 18 years, producing well over 4000 episodes. He has gone on to head Kentucky’s Bluegrass Institute. This is one among the best episodes produced in his tenure, selected by the host and listeners.
Civil disobedience may be the only avenue left for millions of Americans who just want to go about their business undisturbed. Charles Murray explains his dangerous idea in the new book, By the People: Rebuilding Liberty without Permission.
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Best of Cato Daily Podcast: Communicating Economics in Troubled Times

Caleb O. Brown hosted the Cato Daily Podcast for nearly 18 years, producing well over 4000 episodes. He has gone on to head Kentucky’s Bluegrass Institute. This is one among the best episodes produced in his tenure, selected by the host and listeners.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Best of Cato Daily Podcast: Repeal the 17th Amendment?

Caleb O. Brown hosted the Cato Daily Podcast for nearly 18 years, producing well over 4000 episodes. He has gone on to head Kentucky’s Bluegrass Institute. This is one among the best episodes produced in his tenure, selected by the host and listeners.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Best of Cato Daily Podcast: Rights, Powers and the Libertarian Vision

Caleb O. Brown hosted the Cato Daily Podcast for nearly 18 years, producing well over 4000 episodes. He has gone on to head Kentucky’s Bluegrass Institute. This is one among the best episodes produced in his tenure, selected by the host and listeners.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Best of Cato Daily Podcast: POTUS as Chief Magistrate

Caleb O. Brown hosted the Cato Daily Podcast for nearly 18 years, producing well over 4000 episodes. He has gone on to head Kentucky’s Bluegrass Institute. This is one among the best episodes produced in his tenure, selected by the host and listeners.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Best of Cato Daily Podcast: Fifty Years of the Military Industrial Complex

Caleb O. Brown hosted the Cato Daily Podcast for nearly 18 years, producing well over 4000 episodes. He has gone on to head Kentucky’s Bluegrass Institute. This is one among the best episodes produced in his tenure, selected by the host and listeners.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Best of Cato Daily Podcast: Abolish the Department of Homeland Security

Caleb O. Brown hosted the Cato Daily Podcast for nearly 18 years, producing well over 4000 episodes. He has gone on to head Kentucky’s Bluegrass Institute. This is one among the best episodes produced in his tenure, selected by the host and listeners.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Best of Cato Daily Podcast: You Have the Right to Remain Innocent

Caleb O. Brown hosted the Cato Daily Podcast for nearly 18 years, producing well over 4000 episodes. He has gone on to head Kentucky’s Bluegrass Institute. This is one among the best episodes produced in his tenure, selected by the host and listeners.
Don’t talk to the police, even if you want to help them solve a crime. James Duane says that’s the advice police and lawyers give their own children. He explains why in his new book, You Have the Right to Remain Innocent.
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Best of Cato Daily Podcast: Taking Back Congressional Power over Tariffs and Trade

Caleb O. Brown hosted the Cato Daily Podcast for nearly 18 years, producing well over 4000 episodes. He has gone on to head Kentucky’s Bluegrass Institute. This is one among the best episodes produced in his tenure, selected by the host and listeners.
The freedom to trade is morally good. Congress has sadly delegated many of its powers over trade to the White House. That poses particular risks today. Senator Rand Paul (R‑KY) discusses his efforts at reclaiming legislative power over trade.
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Best of Cato Daily Podcast: Women Are More Than Their Interactions with the State

Caleb O. Brown hosted the Cato Daily Podcast for nearly 18 years, producing well over 4000 episodes. He has gone on to head Kentucky’s Bluegrass Institute. This is one among the best episodes produced in his tenure, selected by the host and listeners.
As many voters are licking their wounds after failing to elect the first female U.S. President, Anthony Comegna talks about how the important historical role of women on behalf of liberty is more than mere interactions with the state.
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Best of Cato Daily Podcast: Hannah’s Children: The Women Quietly Defying the Birth Dearth

Caleb O. Brown hosted the Cato Daily Podcast for nearly 18 years, producing well over 4000 episodes. He has gone on to head Kentucky’s Bluegrass Institute. This is one among the best episodes produced in his tenure, selected by the host and listeners.
Why have five or more children? Hannah’s Children: The Women Quietly Defying the Birth Dearth by Catherine Pakaluk details the stories and reasoning of dozens of women who have gone well beyond replacement-level fertility.
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Best of Cato Daily Podcast: Smoot-Hawley 81 Years Later

Caleb O. Brown hosted the Cato Daily Podcast for nearly 18 years, producing well over 4000 episodes. He has gone on to head Kentucky’s Bluegrass Institute. This is one among the best episodes produced in his tenure, selected by the host and listeners.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Best of Cato Daily Podcast: Asserting Liberty and the Power of ‘No’

Caleb O. Brown hosted the Cato Daily Podcast for nearly 18 years, producing well over 4000 episodes. He has gone on to head Kentucky’s Bluegrass Institute. This is one among the best episodes produced in his tenure, selected by the host and listeners.
In the long history of the ebb and flow of liberty, some examples stand out. Jim Otteson of Wake Forest University offered a few of those examples at Cato Club 200.
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Caleb O. Brown Bids Farewell to the Cato Daily Podcast

Caleb O. Brown has hosted the Cato Daily Podcast since 2007, CatoAudio since 2008, and all told has created several thousand interviews, videos, and other pieces for the Cato Institute. On his final episode, he is interviewed by Cato's Deirdre McCloskey about the art of the interview and his pending move to head Kentucky’s Bluegrass Institute.
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Threats to Migrants' Speech Threaten Americans' Speech

It should come as no surprise to learn that when some people in the US are targeted for their speech, it does no service to your right to speak freely. David Bier and Tommy Berry explain why immigration crackdowns triggered by speech are so dangerous.
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Court Orders and Administration Responses on Illegal Deportations

El Salvador is receiving prisoners snatched by the US federal government. The Supreme Court has ordered the Trump administration to "facilitate" the return of one prisoner. Ilya Somin details some of the more troubling aspects of this struggle. We spoke April 11, 2025.
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Meta on Trial

Meta's trial for alleged monopolistic practices could change how mergers get done and if they get done. Cato's Jennifer Huddleston and CEI's Alex Reinauer comment.
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A Lawsuit to End 'Liberation Day' Tariffs

The so-called "Liberation Day" tariffs use emergency powers from a statute that makes no mention of tariffs. Ilya Somin explains why that's one reason the tariffs are on shaky legal/constitutional ground and why a new lawsuit is challenging them.
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End Federal Withholding to Clarify What Government Takes

Federal withholding may among the most insidious of government policies. It hides the full scale of what government takes from us, and makes you feel like you're getting a bonus when you get your own money back. Cato’s Adam Michel makes the case.
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Taxpayers Like Their Special Handouts, Dislike Yours

Cato's Adam Michel ran a bracket of the worst offenders among "tax expenditures," or special benefits for some taxpayers. Turns out people like their own tax benefits and dislike the ones that benefit someone else.
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Free Trade Didn’t Kill the Middle Class

The case for tariffs hinges critically on a misunderstanding of the relevant data. Contrary to the claims from the President and Vice President, free trade has substantially enriched most Americans. Cato's Norbert Michel counters the false rhetoric.
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Bad Arguments for Terrible Tariffs

The arguments for tariffs lack the kind of useful perspective provided by a basic economics course. Cato's Colin Grabow picks them apart.
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Governments That Pursue Tariffs Are Terrible Role Models

The tariff policies dubiously adopted by President Trump have echoes of previous authoritarian governments. Ian Vasquez explains.
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The 'Liberation Day' Tariffs Aren't Reciprocal and Other Reasons They Don't Make Sense

There are several errors, misconceptions, and confusing assumptions that went into the creation of Donald Trump's new wealth-destroying tariff regime. Scott Lincicome explains a few of them.
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Don’t Ask the Fed to Fix Bad Trade Policy

The Federal Reserve can blunt the impact of a good deal of politically driven economic mischief. What about the new punitive tariff regime from the President? Jai Kedia suggests that you not get your hopes up.
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The Triumph of Fear: Domestic Surveillance and Political Repression from McKinley Through Eisenhower

With respect to the substantial federal power to repress and surveil Americans, how did we get here? Patrick Eddington provides the first part of the story in The Triumph of Fear: Domestic Surveillance and Political Repression from McKinley Through Eisenhower.
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Is Rooftop Solar a Threat to Stable Electricity?

Big energy facilities make the grid more stable, but rooftop solar reduces the need for those plants. Regulators have a hard time negotiating the tension. Economist Lynne Kiesling comments.
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Challenge Your Narrative & Confront Uncomfortable History

History can be a weapon. Obscuring inconvenient history can be a weapon. And Left and Right are both guilty of it. Phil Magness provides some helpful examples.
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Tribalism is Dumb: Where It Came from, How It Got so Bad, and What to Do About It

It's become easier to hate those with whom we disagree on matters of policy and politics, and our ideological tribes insulate us from thoughtful challenge. Andrew Heaton hopes to help you navigate a coarsening culture with his book, Tribalism is Dumb.
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The Crisis of Dependency: How Our Efforts to Solve Poverty Are Trapping People in It and What We Can Do to Foster Freedom Instead

Government-administered aid to the poor is routinely wasted. Many well-intended charitable programs undermine self-determination and fail to restore dignity. James Whitford discusses a new way to think about poverty and its alleviation in The Crisis of Dependency.
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State Licensing Reform Liberates Workers

Several states have recently moved ahead with recognizing occupational licenses issued elsewhere. Ed Timmons explains what it means for employment, worker mobility, and consumer welfare.
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The 'How' of Ending the US Department of Education

Ending the US Department of Education is an important policy goal that appears closer than ever, and it should occur both within the bounds of the US Constitution and as soon as possible. Tommy Berry and Neal McCluskey comment.
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Government Dietary Advice and the New Alcohol Prohibitionists

A late change by President Biden in how alcohol is treated in dietary guidance will mean more finger wagging from health officials. The change highlights the problem of government health advice. Eric Boehm of Reason and Cato's Jeff Singer comment.
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Trump-Era Financial Surveillance Aims to Track Small Transactions

Under the guise of targeting illegal immigration, the Trump administration is moving to curtail Americans' financial privacy even further. Nick Anthony explains how.
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Administrative Courts and Presidential Deportations

They’re not real courtrooms, of course, but administrative courts are being used in the context of immigration. What is their role in adjudicating immigration issues? David Bier and Will Yeatman comment.
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Pharmacists Can Do Much More; States Should Let Them

Pharmacists regularly help patients navigate both prescriptions and physicians’ advice, but they can do more. A few states have begun to recognize their capabilities that have otherwise largely gone untapped. Alicia Plemmons of the Knee Regulatory Research Center comments.
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The Phony Invasion at the Heart of Trump's Deportations under the Alien Enemies Act

Trump's use of the Alien Enemies Act to whisk alleged gang members to an El Salvador prison should not be allowed to stand for a variety of reasons. Ilya Somin explains why it might put Americans at risk.
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Terrorism and Immigration 1975–2024

The federal government’s security resources should be allocated to the most efficient means of reducing the costs of terrorism. Alex Nowrasteh details a new paper.
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By Targeting Certain Law Firms, the President Is Threatening the Constitution

President Trump has issued executive orders targeting law firms that have represented his opponents in court. It strikes at the heart of several constitutional protections. Walter Olson and Mike Fox comment.
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Which Is Worse: The Regime Uncertainty or the Tariffs?

The Trump tariffs are bad enough, but the uncertainty surrounding trade policy is making everything much worse. Scott Lincicome explains.
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