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Cato Institute

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.
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Cato Daily Podcast

Justin Logan and Clark Packard break down the twists and turns of the U.S.-China relationship—from trade liberalization and consumer benefits to lost manufacturing and rising geopolitical tensions. They unpack how economic integration shaped today’s challenges and what it means for America’s future.

Justin Logan, “Liberty at Home, Restraint Abroad: A Realist Approach to Foreign Policy,” Free Society (June 20, 2024) 

Justin Logan, “Uncle Sucker: Why U.S. Efforts at Defense Burdensharing Fail,” Policy Analysis no. 940 (March 7, 2023) 

Clark Packard, Course Correction, Policy Analysis no. 897 (July 21, 2020)

Clark Packard and Scott Lincicome, “Presidential Tariff Powers and the Need for Reform,” Briefing Paper no. 179 (October 9, 2024)

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Trade, Power, and Tension: The U.S.-China Story

As President Trump pushes to unwind one proxy war—with Russia in Ukraine—he’s ramping up another in this hemisphere: ordering the Pentagon to ready battle plans against Latin American drug cartels. On our panel, Cato scholars weigh the odds of a Putin deal and the risk of replaying past drug war disasters.

Featuring Ryan Bourne, Ian Vásquez, Gene Healy, and Justin Logan

Links for Show Notes

Justin Logan, “Trump Shouldn’t Settle for European Spending Pledges,” Foreign Policy, July 25, 2025

Brandan P. Buck, “Invading Mexico Will Not Solve the Cartel Problem,” The American Conservative, December 17, 2024

Ian Vasquez, “Deregulation in Argentina: Milei Takes “Deep Chainsaw” to Bureaucracy and Red Tape,” Free Society (Spring 2025)

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Summits, Guns, and Money

In this episode, Senior Fellow in Technology Policy Jennifer Huddleston and Technology Policy Research Fellow Matthew Mittelsteadt break down the Trump administration's new AI Action Plan and what it means for American innovation. 

Matt Mittelsteadt, “The AI Action Plan: Taking AI Innovation Seriously,” Cato at Liberty (July 28, 2025)

Matt Mittelsteadt, “The Safety Risks of the Coming AI Regulatory Patchwork,” Cato at Liberty (June 24, 2025)

Jennifer Huddleston, “Content Creators, Entrepreneurial Users, and the Impact of Tech Policy,” Policy Analysis (April 29, 2025)

Jennifer Huddleston, “Is AI a Horse or a Zebra When It Comes to the First Amendment,” Cato at Liberty (July 28, 2025)

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From Risk to Innovation: Analyzing Trump's New AI Action Plan

Last week, President Trump ramped up pressure on two favorite targets: elite universities and Fed Chair Jerome Powell. In the “War on Woke U,” the administration landed a $50 million settlement from Brown—the third Ivy to cut a deal—and added Duke and UCLA to the hit list with new civil rights probes and a funding cutoff. Meanwhile, after the Fed held rates steady, Trump escalated his campaign to oust Powell, denouncing him as a “stubborn MORON” on Truth Social.

In this episode, Cato scholars break down the Art of the Forcible Deal. What risks do Trump’s pressure tactics pose for monetary stability? Will they reform broken institutions—or just deepen their politicization? And is Trump’s strongarm approach an aberration, or a preview of the modern presidency’s future?

Featuring Gene Healy, Ryan Bourne, Emily Ekins, and Jeffrey Miron

Show Notes:

 • David Beckworth, “The Consolidated Government Budget Constraint Does Not Care About Your Fed Independence Feelings,” 
Substack • (July 25, 2025)
 • Ryan Bourne, “A Case for Federal Deficit Reduction,” 
Cato Policy Analysis • no. 973 (April 18, 2024)
 • Michael Chapman, “A Win for Liberty: Congress Defunds CPB, NPR, and PBS,” 
Cato@Liberty • (July 23, 2025)
 • Jeffrey A. Miron and Jacob P. Winter, “Giving Up Federal Funds Would Do Harvard Good,” 
Harvard Crimson • (April 30, 2025)
 • Norbert Michel and Jai Kedia, “A Check-In on the Fed: Why Politically Motivated Monetary Policy Is Dangerous and Counterproductive,” 
Cato Video • (July 22, 2025)

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Offers You’d Better Not Refuse

Peter Van Doren and David Kemp bring libertarian skepticism to the bipartisan political support for nuclear power. They analyze why regulatory reform alone may not solve nuclear's economic problems and discuss how recent U.S. projects have failed to deliver on promises of cost-effectiveness even after a supposed "renaissance" in the late 2000s. They finish up with a discussion on whether small modular reactors (SMRs) are the nuclear silver bullet.

Show Notes:

Peter Van Doren and David Kemp, Nuclear Power in the Context of Climate Change, Cato Institute Working Paper, April 27, 2023. https://www.cato.org/working-paper/nuclear-power-context-climate-change.

David Kemp and Peter Van Doren, "Would a Carbon Tax Rejuvenate Nuclear Energy?" Regulation 45, no. 3 (Fall 2022). https://www.cato.org/regulation/fall-2022/would-carbon-tax-rejuvenate-nuclear-energy.

David Kemp, "Nuclear Power’s Newest Cautionary Tale," Cato at Liberty (blog), January 23, 2024. https://www.cato.org/blog/nuclear-powers-newest-cautionary-tale.

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Atomic Economics

Cato's Clark Neily and Mike Fox give the most recent SCOTUS term a B- grade on criminal law. While they celebrate some unanimous victories like Barnes v. Felix (requiring courts to consider totality of circumstances in police use-of-force cases) and Martin v. United States (allowing federal tort claims against law enforcement), they express frustration with the Court's repeated refusal to hear cases involving the "petty offense doctrine," appellate waivers in plea bargains, and felon-in-possession gun laws—all issues with clear circuit splits that affect large numbers of people.

The episode concludes with a celebration of Fox's efforts that led to presidential pardons for John Moore and Tanner Mansell, achieving justice where the courts failed.

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One and a Half Cheers for SCOTUS

Thomas A. Berry and Brent Skorup analyze five major Supreme Court cases from the recently concluded term, describing it as a "mixed bag" with more government victories than libertarians would prefer. They discuss key decisions including Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton (upholding Texas age verification requirements for adult content), Trump v. Casa Inc. (ending universal injunctions by federal judges), and several other significant rulings on transgender rights and religious liberty in schools.
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SCOTUS Roundup

Adam Michel, Michael Cannon, and Dominik Lett break down the One Big Beautiful Bill. Is it $3.4 trillion, or actually $6 trillion? Is Medicaid getting a cut or a trim? With spending cuts pushed to later years and tax benefits front-loaded, the scholars dissect the political calculations and baseline accounting that shaped this massive piece of legislation.

Show Notes:

Michael F. Cannon, “Congress Must Cut and Reform Medicaid,” Cato at Liberty (blog), July 18, 2023. https://www.cato.org/blog/congress-must-cut-reform-medicaid.

Chris Edwards, “The Senate’s Big, Beautiful Blunder Could Increase the Debt by $6 Trillion,” Cato at Liberty (blog), October 30, 2023. https://www.cato.org/blog/senates-big-beautiful-blunder-could-increase-debt-6-trillion.

“Senate Budget Serves Dessert First, Spinach Later,” Cato Institute, October 26, 2023. https://www.cato.org/news-releases/senate-budget-serves-dessert-first-spinach-later.

Romina Boccia, “Fiscal Hawks to the Defense of the GOP’s Deficit-Busting Budget Bill,” Cato at Liberty (blog), November 1, 2023. https://www.cato.org/blog/fiscal-hawks-defense-gops-deficit-busting-budget-bill.

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The Good, The Bad and the Beautiful

Michael F. Cannon and Neal McCluskey let us listen in on their ongoing 20-year debate over who has the more difficult job -- fixing health care or education. McCluskey argues that government's monopolistic control over K-12 education and compulsory schooling creates a more fundamental threat to freedom, while Cannon contends that health care is even more dysfunctional due to cascading government interventions that have created the world's most expensive and gap-ridden health system. Both scholars explore how government subsidies drive up costs in their respective sectors and outline their visions for more libertarian, market-based alternatives.

Show Notes:

https://www.cato.org/free-society/summer-2025/federal-failure-parental-freedom-story-movement 

 

https://www.cato.org/blog/supreme-court-right-reading-opt-outs-thats-not-enough

 

https://www.cato.org/blog/top-5-reasons-end-us-department-education

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Cato Cage Match: Education vs. Health Care

Justin Logan and Jon Hoffman delve into Hoffman's latest policy analysis, "Aimless Rivalry: The Futility of U.S. China Competition in the Middle East." They debunk justifications for U.S. Middle East policy based on competition with China and challenge prevailing narratives in international relations. Tune in for a thorough discussion that puts threats in context and examines U.S. policy through a skeptical lens.

Show Notes:

Hoffman, Jon. Aimless Rivalry: The Flawed Assumptions Driving U.S. Middle East Policy. Policy Analysis no. 956. Washington, DC: Cato Institute, July 24, 2023. https://www.cato.org/policy-analysis/aimless-rivalry.

Gholz, Eugene, and Daryl G. Press. “Why the Middle East Still Doesn’t Matter.” Politico Magazine, October 15, 2014. https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/10/why-the-middle-east-still-doesnt-matter-111747/.

Ashford, Emma. The Case for Withdrawing from the Middle East. Washington, DC: Defense Priorities, 2019. https://www.defensepriorities.org/reports/the-case-for-withdrawing-from-the-middle-east/.

Preble, Christopher A., and Jon Hoffman. “Middle East Security.” In Cato Handbook for Policymakers, 9th ed., 406–13. Washington, DC: Cato Institute, 2022. https://www.cato.org/cato-handbook-policymakers/cato-handbook-policymakers-9th-edition-2022/middle-east-security.

Hoffman, Jon. “The U.S. Has Nothing to Fear from China in the Middle East.” Cato Institute, June 20, 2023. https://www.cato.org/commentary/us-has-nothing-fear-china-middle-east.

Hoffman, Jon. “Jon Hoffman Participates in Event: U.S.-China Competition and the Value of the Middle East.” Cato Institute, April 25, 2023. https://www.cato.org/multimedia/media-highlights-tv/jon-hoffman-participates-event-us-china-competition-value-middle.

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Aimless Rivalry: U.S. and China in the Middle East

How much of the election reform passed this year in states makes sense? Walter Olson disentangles some of the motivations.

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What Would Serious Election Reform Look Like?

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