Cato Institute Event Videos (Full)

Evidence from academic institutions and international organizations shows dramatic improvements in human well-being. These improvements are especially striking in the developing world. Unfortunately, there is often a wide gap between the reality and public perception, including that of many policymakers, scholars in unrelated fields, and intelligent lay persons. To make matters worse, the media emphasizes bad news, while ignoring many positive long-term trends. To help correct popular misperceptions regarding the actual state of humanity, Cato created the HumanProgress project. Through the presentation of empirical data that focuses on long-term developments, the goal of the project is to provide a useful resource for legislative staff, scholars, journalists, students, and the general public. To learn more and to meet the team behind this remarkable venture, please join us.

In discussions with his advisers, President Obama has been heard to worry about "leaving a loaded weapon lying around" for future presidents, Newsweek reported just before the 2012 election, in an article titled "Obama's Executive Power Grab. Yet in his second term, boasting that "I've got a pen and a phone," he's increasingly governed by unilateral directive, in areas ranging from education policy, immigration, and environmental regulation at home to military action abroad — ensuring that his successor will inherit a presidency with dangerously expansive powers. Likely Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton has said she'll go "as far as I can, even beyond President Obama" unilaterally on immigration and use executive action to stop corporations from headquartering abroad to avoid taxes. "I won't refuse them," Republican frontrunner Donald Trump says of executive orders, "I will do a lot of right things." Is the expansion of unilateral executive power the "right thing" for our system of government or a "loaded weapon" that threatens the constitutional separation of powers? Join us for a lively presentation as we explore the recent relationship between the executive and congressional branches.

A “ruling class” has emerged in America against the hopes and designs of our Founding Fathers. Over the last hundred years, members of that class have rejected the Constitution and expanded their own power, slowly at first and now rapidly. These people believe their actions are justified because they think they are smarter than the rest of us—so smart they can run our lives better than we can. But for all the power and resources at their command, they have failed. Miserably. Society has become increasingly unequal, even as we’re promised “equality.” Our government finances are out of control, our basic infrastructure is broken, and education is unaffordable and mediocre. And yet the ruling class thinks the solution is for us to grant them ever more control. We can stop this—but to do so we must unite. In Conspiracies of the Ruling Class, Lawrence Lindsey lays out his plan for how we can use common sense to change the way our country is run. Finally, here is the truth from a Washington insider about how to reawaken the spirit upon which America was founded, with liberty for every person to pursue his or her own dreams.

Please join us as Michael Mandelbaum—prominent columnist and author, and a leading foreign-policy thinker—discusses his new book, Mission Failure: America and the World in the Post–Cold War Era. In this definitive work, Mandelbaum critically assesses American military interventions since the end of the Cold War and the deeply flawed post–Cold War efforts to promote American values and American institutions throughout the world. Each intervention was designed to transform local economic and political systems, and each, argues Mandelbaum, failed. It is, he writes, “the story of good, sometimes noble, and thoroughly American intentions coming up against the deeply embedded, often harsh, and profoundly un-American realities of places far from the United States.” In these encounters, he concludes, "the realities prevailed." We hope you will be able to join us for what will be a provocative and highly illuminating event.

Cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies, like Bitcoin, are revolutionizing the way we think about government currency monopolies, transferring money across the globe, maintaining financial privacy and security, and verifying ownership of money or potentially everything. Their place in society and the financial system is rapidly expanding and with it a host of hopes, questions, and risks. Will they provide financial security outside of government systems, or will consumers be unprotected from losses? Will they ensure financial privacy or enable criminal activity? Will they replace central banking or serve as a new tool for monetary management? And will government regulations encourage, discourage, or remain neutral to these emerging and transformative technologies? Join us for a day-long conference considering the policy implications of the decentralized cryptocurrency revolution.

Cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies, like Bitcoin, are revolutionizing the way we think about government currency monopolies, transferring money across the globe, maintaining financial privacy and security, and verifying ownership of money or potentially everything. Their place in society and the financial system is rapidly expanding and with it a host of hopes, questions, and risks. Will they provide financial security outside of government systems, or will consumers be unprotected from losses? Will they ensure financial privacy or enable criminal activity? Will they replace central banking or serve as a new tool for monetary management? And will government regulations encourage, discourage, or remain neutral to these emerging and transformative technologies? Join us for a day-long conference considering the policy implications of the decentralized cryptocurrency revolution.

Cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies, like Bitcoin, are revolutionizing the way we think about government currency monopolies, transferring money across the globe, maintaining financial privacy and security, and verifying ownership of money or potentially everything. Their place in society and the financial system is rapidly expanding and with it a host of hopes, questions, and risks. Will they provide financial security outside of government systems, or will consumers be unprotected from losses? Will they ensure financial privacy or enable criminal activity? Will they replace central banking or serve as a new tool for monetary management? And will government regulations encourage, discourage, or remain neutral to these emerging and transformative technologies? Join us for a day-long conference considering the policy implications of the decentralized cryptocurrency revolution.

Cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies, like Bitcoin, are revolutionizing the way we think about government currency monopolies, transferring money across the globe, maintaining financial privacy and security, and verifying ownership of money or potentially everything. Their place in society and the financial system is rapidly expanding and with it a host of hopes, questions, and risks. Will they provide financial security outside of government systems, or will consumers be unprotected from losses? Will they ensure financial privacy or enable criminal activity? Will they replace central banking or serve as a new tool for monetary management? And will government regulations encourage, discourage, or remain neutral to these emerging and transformative technologies? Join us for a day-long conference considering the policy implications of the decentralized cryptocurrency revolution.

Cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies, like Bitcoin, are revolutionizing the way we think about government currency monopolies, transferring money across the globe, maintaining financial privacy and security, and verifying ownership of money or potentially everything. Their place in society and the financial system is rapidly expanding and with it a host of hopes, questions, and risks. Will they provide financial security outside of government systems, or will consumers be unprotected from losses? Will they ensure financial privacy or enable criminal activity? Will they replace central banking or serve as a new tool for monetary management? And will government regulations encourage, discourage, or remain neutral to these emerging and transformative technologies? Join us for a day-long conference considering the policy implications of the decentralized cryptocurrency revolution.

Cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies, like Bitcoin, are revolutionizing the way we think about government currency monopolies, transferring money across the globe, maintaining financial privacy and security, and verifying ownership of money or potentially everything. Their place in society and the financial system is rapidly expanding and with it a host of hopes, questions, and risks. Will they provide financial security outside of government systems, or will consumers be unprotected from losses? Will they ensure financial privacy or enable criminal activity? Will they replace central banking or serve as a new tool for monetary management? And will government regulations encourage, discourage, or remain neutral to these emerging and transformative technologies? Join us for a day-long conference considering the policy implications of the decentralized cryptocurrency revolution.

The global poverty aid industry is big business, with the West spending more than a trillion dollars in the past decade on programs to promote development. Filmed in 20 countries, Poverty, Inc. unearths the uncomfortable side of international charity, finding that much of it hurts the world’s poor more than it helps them. Join us for a screening of the documentary that explores how perverse incentives, lack of local knowledge, and weak institutional environments combine with altruism and cynicism to produce sometimes catastrophic results. The record of aid contrasts with the film’s portrayal of the dignity and productive potential of the poor. Co-producer Mark Weber will briefly answer questions after the screening.

In 2015 Japan passed landmark reforms of its national security laws, including a reinterpretation of its constitutional prohibition against collective security activities. Now Japan can legally cooperate with the United States in defensive military operations, leading many observers to declare that Japan has abandoned its post–World War II “pacifist principles.” Are such pronouncements correct? Or are the national security reforms simply the most recent recalibration of Japan’s postwar grand strategy? In her new analysis, Jennifer Lind argues the latter, stating that cries of “Japan is abandoning pacifism” are not only misleading, but distort the magnitude of recent changes. According to Lind, while Japan prefers to buck-pass to the United States, it has historically accepted more responsibility in the alliance when its threat environment grows increasingly dangerous and uncertainty exists about the U.S. commitment. But what are the implications for U.S. security of a more assertive Japan? And does Japan’s acceptance of more responsibility suggest that other U.S. allies would act accordingly if Washington were to step back? Lind along with a distinguished panel will discuss these and other important questions.

Domestic minerals and metals are a cornerstone of the U.S. economy, but data just published by the Energy Information Agency (EIA) show that investment in U.S. mining and exploration declined an incredible 35 percent last year—from $135 billion in 2014 to $88 billion in 2015—representing the second largest decline since 1948. The withdrawal of federal lands, often with permanent restrictions on mining force manufacturers to look elsewhere, and the permitting process is long and drawn out. Federal holdings used to be called the “land of many uses,” but increasingly Washington has decided that one of those uses is no longer the mining of coal and minerals. Millions of acres, largely in the West, are now zoned for no mining, no matter how remote or rich they might be. Mamula, a PhD geologist with extensive experience in both private industry and government (with the U.S. Geological Survey and the Central Intelligence Agency), will discuss the causes of and the solutions for this problem which is increasing in strategic importance for the United States.

Between January and March 2015, U.S. Special Operations forces deployed to over 80 countries. Although many of these deployments focused on training exercises or advisory roles, it is an astounding measure of the scope of the U.S. military's involvement around the world. U.S. forces are engaged in active conflict in at least 6 countries, ranging from the well-known (Iraq; Afghanistan) to the largely invisible (Somalia; Yemen). The public often seems blissfully unaware of America's wars, reflecting a blurring of the line between war and peace. The ubiquity of the "Global War on Terror," the emergence of non-state actors, and technological advances have contributed to a situation in which the United States is involved in a range of conflicts around the world, most of which are invisible to the people who pay for them. What is the nature and scope of America's involvement in these conflicts? Does lack of public awareness impact U.S. national security debates? And does U.S. involvement actually serve U.S. interests? Join our panelists for a discussion of these questions in the context of three "invisible" wars: Yemen, Pakistan, and Somalia.

Less than 18 months ago, a cover story for the New York Times Magazine asked, “Has the ‘libertarian moment’ finally arrived?” From public suspicion of the surveillance state, to increasing tolerance for marijuana legalization, to marriage equality, to weariness with war—the article argued that after years of intellectual work, “for perhaps the first time,” libertarianism has “genuine political momentum on its side.” However, the Rand Paul presidential campaign failed to catch fire. The two breakout candidates of the presidential campaign have been a socialist and an authoritarian. The idea of tolerance seems increasingly quaint, as Mexicans and Muslims have become the target of public frustrations. And the public seems to have forgotten its weariness with war, as the Islamic State continues its brutal terrorism. Was all this talk of the libertarian moment simply wishful thinking? Or was the libertarian moment never about politics in the first place? Join David Boaz, Matt Welch, Ramesh Ponnuru, and Conor Friedersdorf for a wide-ranging conversation on the future of libertarianism.