Cato Event Podcast

The Constitution begins with the words “We the People.” But from our earliest days there have been two competing notions of “the People,” leading to two very different constitutional visions. Those who view “We the People” collectively think popular sovereignty resides in the people as a group, which leads them to favor a democratic constitution that allows the will of the people to be expressed by majority rule. In contrast, those who think popular sovereignty resides in the people as individuals contend that a republican constitution is needed to secure the preexisting inalienable rights of “We the People,” each and every one, against abuses by the majority. In his latest book, with a foreword by George Will, Randy Barnett explains why “We the People” would greatly benefit from the renewal of our republican Constitution, and how this can be accomplished in the courts and the political arena. Please join us for a discussion of this important new book. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We are witnessing the dawn of a robotics revolution. In the future, robots will undergo exponential growth in terms of their ability and application. What does that mean for human employment and productivity growth? What about incomes, leisure time, and the overall standard of living? Randy Bateman believes that, as was the case in the Industrial Revolution, robots will initially assist rather than displace human workers. Afterwards, however, there will be a great economic upheaval and a realignment of employment and tax policies. On the flip side, dangerous, dirty, and demeaning jobs will be eliminated. The two thirds of the planet that is ocean can be more widely explored and exploited. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As the Cold War wound down, the United States initiated a new conflict—a war for the greater Middle East. From the Balkans and East Africa to the Persian Gulf and Central Asia, U.S. forces embarked upon a series of campaigns across the Islamic world with no end in sight. In his aptly titled new book, America’s War for the Greater Middle East, Andrew Bacevich connects the dots of a sweeping narrative from episodes as varied as the Beirut bombing of 1983, the Mogadishu firefight of 1993, the invasion of Iraq in 2003, and the rise of ISIS in the present decade. Indeed, Bacevich claims that America’s costly military interventions can only be understood when seeing the seemingly discrete events as part of a single war. Is he right? Or are America’s military adventures in the Middle East discrete occurrences driven by the unique circumstances of the moment? Is it really one big, long war, or many? Join us to find out. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.