Cato Institute

Cato Responds To President

02/13/2013

The Cato Institute responds to President Obama’s inaugural address:

Cato On SCOTUS Decision

06/29/2012

The Cato Institute provides an initial reaction to the ObamaCare ruling by the Supreme Court.

The Shame of Education

11/09/2011

The state of education in this country is terrible. Like the Post Office, it is government run. Both operations are or should go out of… Read More »The Shame of Education

Why We are Bankrupt

04/30/2011

The real problem facing the government is not the $14.3 Trillion in Federal debt. Sure, it is too high and must be reduced. Yet the… Read More »Why We are Bankrupt

SOTU Interpreted by Cato

01/26/2011

The Cato Institute responds to the State of the Union message in this video.

“F” Stands for Fed and Failure

12/10/2010

An absolutely devastating criticism of the Fed based on a review of its 100 year performance is summarized by Sheldon Richman of FEE. The report,… Read More »“F” Stands for Fed and Failure

Cato on the Federal Reserve

11/18/2010

An academic analysis of the Federal Reserve by the Cato Institute.

Hayek Returns

06/14/2010

Friedrich Hayek’s classic book should be read by every high school student in the country. If you haven’t read it, enlighten yourself with what is… Read More »Hayek Returns

Constitutionality of ObamaCare

04/22/2010

The Taxing Power of Obamacare by Robert A. Levy ,

Robert A. Levy is chairman of the Cato Institute and a director of the Institute for Justice.

This article appeared on National Review Online on April 20, 2010.

The litigation battle has begun. While the legal arguments are technical, the basic issue is straightforward: Can the federal government force people to buy a product — in this instance, health insurance — from a private company?

Advocates of Obamacare claim that the mandate to purchase health insurance is authorized under the Commerce Clause. But constitutional experts note that this expansion of power is unprecedented. The only way for the Supreme Court to find Obamacare constitutional via the Commerce Clause would be for it to announce, for the first time in 221 years, that there are essentially no structural limits on the federal government’s power to regulate interstate commerce.

Virtually every Western Democratic Government is insolvent.

09/11/2011

Virtually every Western democratic government is insolvent. And governments utilized the same practices as General Motors to reach this point. In GM’s case, poor management… Read More »Virtually every Western Democratic Government is insolvent.

Spiraling to Bankruptcy

01/30/2010

If the Government confiscated everything, the social programs would still be $50 trillion short and the Government would still be bankrupt. Furthermore, no company or… Read More »Spiraling to Bankruptcy

US Hyperinflation Coming?

11/15/2009

Image via Wikipedia Zimbabwe’s hyperinflation is legendary. To the right is a 100,000,000 note (currency). Their problem was unsustainable debt that the government tried to… Read More »US Hyperinflation Coming?

Democracy has proved only that the best way to gain power over people is to assure the people that they are ruling themselves. Once they believe that, they make wonderfully submissive slaves.
Joseph Sobran
The time to save is now. When a dog gets a bone, he doesn't go out and make a down payment on a bigger bone. He buries the one he's got.
Will Rogers
We can either return to gold or we can pursue the fiat path and return to barter. It is perhaps not hyperbole to say that civilization itself is at stake in our decision.
Murray Rothbard
Good intentions will always be pleaded for every assumption of authority. It is hardly too strong to say that the Constitution was made to guard the people against the dangers of good intentions. There are men in all ages who mean to govern well, but they mean to govern. They promise to be good masters, but they mean to be masters.
Daniel Webster
It is easy to understand why the law is used by the legislator to destroy in varying degrees among the rest of the people their personal independence by slavery, their liberty by oppression, and their property by plunder. This is done for the benefit of the person who makes the law, and in proportion to the power that he holds.
Frederic Bastiat
If the economy goes into another Great Depression before the 2020 election, it likely ensures a Trump re-election. Does anyone believe that any of the Democrats vying for the nomination would know what needs to be done?
Monty Pelerin
Credibility is like virginity. Once you lose it, you can never get it back.
Unknown
The Great Depression, like most other periods of severe unemployment, was produced by government mismanagement rather than by any inherent instability of the private economy.
Milton Friedman

... there are only two ways of coordinating the economic activities of millions. One is central direction involving the use of coercion – the technique of the army and of the modern totalitarian state. The other is voluntary cooperation of individuals – the technique of the marketplace.
Milton Friedman
The whole modern world has divided itself into Conservatives and Progressives. The business of Progressives is to go on making mistakes. The business of Conservatives is to prevent mistakes from being corrected. Even when the revolutionist might himself repent of his revolution, the traditionalist is already defending it as part of his tradition. Thus we have two great types -- the advanced person who rushes us into ruin, and the retrospective person who admires the ruins. He admires them especially by moonlight, not to say moonshine. Each new blunder of the progressive or prig becomes instantly a legend of immemorial antiquity for the snob. This is called the balance, or mutual check, in our Constitution.
G. K. Chesterton
History will note that the greatest triumph of Barack Obama will always be that he once convinced a majority of people that he was real.
William L. Gensert
Power never takes a back step - only in the face of more power.
Malcolm X
The essence of government is control, or the attempt to control.
Benjamin Tucker
Self-respect--the secure feeling that no one, as yet, is suspicious.
H. L. Mencken
The issue today is the same as it has been throughout all history, whether man shall be allowed to govern himself or be ruled by a small elite.
Thomas Jefferson
The "takers" now outnumber the "makers." That means that a political solution to the nation's problems is no longer possible.
Monty Pelerin