Cato Podcast

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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4,847 episodes
Updated Thursday

Episodes4847

Newest first

May 21 · 47 min
Out to Lunch: California’s $20 Fast-Food Wage
California’s $20 fast-food minimum wage cut employment by roughly 18,000 jobs and pushed up restaurant prices. Cato’s Ryan Bourne talks to UC San Diego economist Jeff Clemens about California’s wage-floor experiment—and the broader lessons for state and federal minimum wage policy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
May 19 · 36 min
Kicking the Can to Xi's September Visit
The US-China summit produced few deliverables and no breakthroughs on Taiwan, Iran, or trade. Cato's Clark Packard and Evan Sankey break down what was actually agreed, why rare earths and semiconductors have created a strategic stalemate, and what the US should do before Xi comes to Washington. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
May 14 · 41 min
The Immigration Crackdown You’re Not Hearing About
Asylum entries are down 99.9%. Student visas, family visas, and H-1B applications have all cratered. Ryan Bourne is joined by Cato's David Bier to examine how President Trump's executive actions have blocked far more legal immigrants than illegal ones, and why the president's stated support for legal immigration doesn't match his policy record. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
May 12 · 22 min
Washington's Tariff Whack-a-Mole
Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 sat dormant for 50 years for good reason. Cato's Clark Packard and Alfredo Carrillo Obregon break down why courts keep rejecting the administration's tariff theories and what the looming Section 301 investigations mean for American importers. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
May 7 · 39 min
The Growing Farm Subsidy Boondoggle
Federal farm subsidies have kept growing from occasional disaster relief into a sprawling system of commodity supports, crop insurance, sugar protection, and bailouts. With the backdrop of the Farm Bill, Cato’s Ryan Bourne, Chris Edwards, and Clark Packard discuss who really benefits, why reform never sticks, and how tariffs hurt farmers that Congress then subsidize. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
May 5 · 40 min
Rethinking How America Treats Opioid Addiction
People call methadone a life sentence, a ball and chain. Cato's Dr. Jeffrey Singer talks with Helen Redmond, author of "Liquid Handcuffs," about how a Nixon-era crime control program became America's dominant addiction treatment model, and why it needs to be abolished. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
April 30 · 46 min
The Cure for the WHO
The United States has left the World Health Organization, but infectious diseases remain one of the clearest cases for cross-border cooperation. Cato’s Ryan Bourne is joined by Roger Bate of the International Center for Law & Economics to discuss how the WHO suffered from damaging mission creep, why it failed so badly during Covid, and what a narrower, more accountable global health institution might look like. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
April 28 · 54 min
Congress Is AWOL in America's Iran War
The War Powers Resolution allows the president up to 60 days of defensive latitude in introducing U.S. forces into hostilities; it is not a blank check for open-ended war. Cato's Molly Nixon and Katherine Thompson examine what the law actually says, how Trump's strikes on Iran test its limits, and whether the looming 60-day deadline could force Congress to act. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
April 23 · 31 min
Subsidize a Diagnosis, Get More Diagnoses
Medicaid spending on autism therapy jumped from $300 million to $2 billion in just eight states over seven years. Cato's Ryan Bourne, Jeff Singer, and Adam Omary argue the cause isn't an epidemic; it's distorted incentives and a diagnostic manual that keeps expanding. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
April 21 · 24 min
The Surveillance Program Congress Can't Quit
For 18 years, the NSA has collected Americans' communications under FISA Section 702 with no probable cause warrant required. Cato's Patrick Eddington and Maria Sofia break down the latest reauthorization fight and what genuine reform would look like. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
April 16 · 38 min
How to Fix Washington's Affordability Crisis
Consumer prices are up 28% in six years and inflation is accelerating again. Cato's Ryan Bourne, Jai Kedia, Colin Grabow, and Stephen Slivinski unpack Cato's new Handbook on Affordability and the macroeconomic and supply-side reforms that could actually help. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
April 14 · 24 min
Who Actually Pays Federal Taxes?
The top 10% pays 60% of all federal taxes, the bottom 20% pays effectively nothing, and last year's tax cuts added new complexity. Cato's Chris Edwards and Adam Michel unpack the numbers and make the case for real reform. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
April 9 · 47 min
Orbán's Hungary: Model or Cautionary Tale?
Vice President JD Vance traveled to Hungary this week to campaign for Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, hailing him as a defender of Western civilization. Cato's Ryan Bourne sits down with Johan Norberg to discuss Orbán’s actual record in government: weakened checks and balances, crony capitalism, and social policies that have fallen short of Orbán’s ambitions. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
April 7 · 48 min
Birthright Citizenship on Trial
Trump's executive order challenges 150 years of birthright citizenship law, hinging on four words in the 14th Amendment. The Cato Institute's Tommy Berry, Dan Greenberg, and David Bier unpack the constitutional stakes and what the justices signaled at oral arguments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
April 2 · 52 min
The Great Political Realignment
Steve Davies’s new book, The Great Realignment, argues that the key political divide of the past century — markets versus state control — is being displaced by a new aligning issue: nationalism, sovereignty, and collective identity versus cosmopolitanism and globalism. Cato’s Ryan Bourne talks with Davies about why today’s biggest political fights seem less about tax and spending and more about borders, culture, and who governs, how these non-economic conflicts still have deep economic roots, and what this new alignment persisting would mean for libertarians and economic policy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
March 31 · 22 min
Congressional Feuding and Airport Chaos
TSA agents are staying home; airport lines are hours long, and Congress still cannot agree on a DHS funding bill. The Cato Institute's Pat Eddington and Chris Edwards say this is a consequence of tying aviation security to the federal budget; a mistake other high-income countries do not make. With high failure rates in covert screening tests and a long trail of civil liberties abuses including secret watchlist criteria and a mass domestic passenger surveillance program, the case for privatizing airport security is stronger than ever. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
March 26 · 42 min
The Flaws of Rent Ceilings
Massachusetts is weighing a ballot initiative that would cap rent increases at the rate of inflation with no vacancy decontrol, one of the most stringent rent control regimes proposed in the country. Cato's Ryan Bourne and Jeff Miron walk through why economists are nearly unanimous in opposing rent control: it shrinks rental supply, degrades housing quality, and tends to benefit longer-term, higher-income tenants rather than the low-income renters it claims to help. As Cambridge's own history shows, the policy doesn't just fail to solve the affordability problem; it actively makes it worse. We want to hear from you! Please share your thoughts in a 3-minute anonymous survey to help us refine our programming at Cato.org/PodcastSurvey. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
March 24 · 46 min
Surf, Speech, and Government Cartels
In Newport Beach and along California's state beaches, government-created monopolies have effectively banned independent surf instructors from earning a living, with one instructor fined $40,000 after an undercover sting operation. Stephen Slivinski, Caleb Trotter of Pacific Legal Foundation, and Cato's Tommy Berry explore why First Amendment claims may be the sharpest tool available for fighting back against occupational protectionism. If these cases succeed, the precedent could crack open economic liberty litigation far beyond California's coastline. We want to hear from you! Please share your thoughts in a 3-minute anonymous survey to help us refine our programming at Cato.org/PodcastSurvey. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
March 19 · 40 min
Talkin’ ’Bout My Generation (Z)
Cato’s new media fellow, Rikki Schlott, joins Ryan Bourne to talk Gen Z: how social media shaped them, why online life has made young people both more anxious and more persuadable, and how the socialist left and the alt-right have each found fertile ground. They discuss the strange incentives of the attention economy, what Mamdani and other online political entrepreneurs get right, and whether libertarian ideas can be made to resonate with a generation raised on algorithms. We want to hear from you! Please share your thoughts in a 3-minute anonymous survey to help us refine our programming at Cato.org/PodcastSurvey. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
March 17 · 31 min
Who's Watching the $170 Billion?
A 30-day DHS shutdown hasn't slowed ICE or Border Patrol, because nearly $170 billion in One Big Beautiful Bill funding keeps them running with minimal transparency and almost no congressional oversight. Cato's Dominik Lett and David Bier break down how the shutdown exposes a deeper dysfunction: both parties have turned spending into a ratchet, growing the government they want while refusing to review what the other side built. The appropriations process isn't just broken; Congress has quietly agreed to stop fixing it. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Cato Podcast

Out to Lunch: California’s $20 Fast-Food Wage

Kicking the Can to Xi's September Visit

The Immigration Crackdown You’re Not Hearing About

Washington's Tariff Whack-a-Mole

The Growing Farm Subsidy Boondoggle

Rethinking How America Treats Opioid Addiction

The Cure for the WHO

Congress Is AWOL in America's Iran War

Subsidize a Diagnosis, Get More Diagnoses

The Surveillance Program Congress Can't Quit

How to Fix Washington's Affordability Crisis

Who Actually Pays Federal Taxes?

Orbán's Hungary: Model or Cautionary Tale?

Birthright Citizenship on Trial

The Great Political Realignment

Congressional Feuding and Airport Chaos

The Flaws of Rent Ceilings

Surf, Speech, and Government Cartels

Talkin’ ’Bout My Generation (Z)

Who's Watching the $170 Billion?