Cato Recent Op-eds

Confusing Wealth and Income by Richard W. Rahn

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Which of the following families is "richer"? The first family consists of a wife who has recently become a medical doctor, and she makes $160,000 per year. Her husband is a small business entrepreneur who makes $110,000 per year, giving them a total family income of

Eating Locally Not Necessarily Better by Will Wilkinson

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EDT

The food co-op in my new hometown offers buttons, bags, and newsletters coaxing customers to "eat local." The deli counter helpfully enumerates the "food miles" of the various goods on offer. That's the distance traveled from farm to market -- The New Oxford American

Kosovo Precedent Prevails by Ted Galen Carpenter

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EDT

When the United States and its key European allies ignored Russia's protests and recognized Kosovo's declaration of independence from Serbia in February, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice blithely insisted that the Kosovo situation was unique and set no international

Musharraf Has Gone, but Is Civilian Rule Better? by Malou Innocent

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EDT

As expected, Pervez Musharraf has resigned rather than face impeachment as president of Pakistan. But, despite the widespread sense that the retired army general drastically eroded the public trust while in office, there is growing doubt that a civilian government is

Voter ID Laws Are a National Catastrophe by Jim Harper

Sun, 24 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Pennsylvania is poised to join 11 other states that have passed laws rejecting the federal Real ID Act. Many more have objected to it.

Passed by Congress in 2005 - without any debate - Real ID is nothing more than an attempt by Congress to strong-arm the

More Contractors in Iraq by David Isenberg

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EDT

U.S. reliance on private contractors in Iraq is even greater than previously thought, according to a study released last week by the Congressional Budget Office.

The findings of the report, titled "Contractors Support of U.S. Operations in Iraq," which covers

Powering the Future by Jerry Taylor

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Before you confidently hold forth about the future of energy markets, you really ought to pick up a copy of Vaclav Smil's 2005 book, "Energy at the Crossroads," and direct your attention to Chapter 4. There you will find a thorough review of the most prominent energy

Washington Is Quietly Repudiating Its Debts by Gerald P. O'Driscoll Jr.

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Will the U.S. Treasury repudiate its obligations to its creditors, be they citizens or investors around the world? Most observers would answer "no" without hesitation. But Congress, with the complicity of the White House and the Fed, has arguably embarked on a stealth

The Worst Tax by Richard W. Rahn

Thu, 21 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Rank the following taxes from best to worst: individual income taxes; payroll taxes, corporate income taxes, sales or consumption taxes, and residential property taxes. The vast majority of economists would rank the corporate income tax as being worst and the sales tax

Woodrow Wilson's War by Justin Logan

Thu, 21 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Liberal internationalists in the Clinton administration share the blame on Georgia.

Last week, a host of Clinton administration officials emerged to identify and lament the causes of the Russia-Georgia war. Strobe Talbott, Ronald Asmus, and

Should People in Democratic Glass Houses Throw Stones? by Patrick Basham

Thu, 21 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EDT

The neoconservative call to ostracise Russia by kicking her out of the G8 and denying her membership in the World Trade Organisation is deeply mistaken. Washington's desire to lash out economically and diplomatically at Russian misbehaviour in the Caucasus is trumping

No One Should Make Predictions by Jerry Taylor

Thu, 21 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Humility demands that we acknowledge that we have no idea what the personal automobile will look like in the future. It might be that hydrogen-powered fuel cells are on the economic horizon and battery technology will advance to such an extent that we will see the

Nukes to the Rescue? by Jerry Taylor

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EDT

John McCain is wrong. As I've argued before, if an investment has economic merit, government does not need to subsidize it or order the market to consume the fruit of that investment. But if an investment lacks economic merit, no amount of government favoritism will

John McCain's Foreign Policy Judgment is Questionable by Ted Galen Carpenter and Malou Innocent

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EDT

A major theme of John McCain's campaign is that he has far more experience in foreign affairs than does Barack Obama. McCain has now escalated his attacks by targeting Obama's judgment as well — especially the latter's pessimism about the effectiveness of the

The Greenback and Commodity Prices by Steve H. Hanke

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EDT

The Federal Reserve's modus operandi is to panic at the sight of real or perceived economic troubles. As long as inflation remains at, or below, its "target level", the Fed provides emergency relief. It does this by pushing interest rates below where

Pickens' Plan to Rig the Market by Jerry Taylor

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EDT

The Pickens plan is nothing more than a call to rig the market to direct private dollars toward the fuels that Pickens has invested in and away from the fuels that Mr. Pickens has not invested in. Gee, what a visionary.

The market needs to be rigged because

Polluted Markets by James A. Dorn

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EDT

The US subprime crisis has some valuable lessons for China, the foremost being that market socialism is no magic wand for wealth creation. When the US Congress created Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two giant mortgage-financing companies, and gave them the status of

Blackwater as Wal-Mart by David Isenberg

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Say whatever you want about Blackwater Worldwide — and hardly a day goes by when something isn't being said about it — it does not put all its eggs in one basket. Long before the company's recent announcement that it would seek to de-emphasize its personal

Offshore Drilling Is a Risk Worth Taking by Jerry Taylor

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EDT

It's no mystery why politicians are interested in opening up the areas off our coasts to oil exploration and development. Four-dollar gasoline has driven Americans to near madness, and the public's fervent wish to bring down gasoline prices is the politician's command.

Czechoslovakia on Their Minds by Leon T. Hadar

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Neoconservatives and their useful idiots in the American media have been on overdrive this August, rewinding to their World War II analogies and applying them to the fast-forwarding world of global politics. Exhibit A: the obvious likeness of the 2008 Beijing Olympics