Cato Event Podcast

Deluged by indecency complaints since Janet Jackson's infamous "wardrobe malfunction," Congress continues to look for ways to respond that may or may not be constitutional, even as the FCC imposes multi-million-dollar fines on TV networks. But those measures may soon be eclipsed by a new campaign underwritten by TV stations, cable systems, DBS, movie studios, TV programmers, and the Consumer Electronics Association to inform parents about a recently developed, simplified program that will enable parents to control all TV programming coming into their homes. Please join us for a discussion of this nongovernmental effort to address the issue, with comments from the FCC. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As Ben Bernanke settles into his new role as chairman of the Federal Reserve, now is an opportune time for him to reassess certain aspects of the central bank's activities and practices. The Shadow Open Market Committee will discuss some of the dimensions of the challenges facing the Fed. How much further should the Fed tighten monetary policy? As the Fed considers inflation targeting, what would be an appropriate measure of inflation to target? To improve transparency, the Fed needs to provide a more open discussion of what it considers the most important drivers of inflation and why. In addition, the Fed might consider ways of conducting policy based on alternative sets of rules or guidelines. The SOMC will also review the appropriate role of the Fed in select nonmonetary activities that the Fed has taken on over the years. Do they contribute to the Fed's performance of its monetary policy responsibility, or are they time-consuming distractions? Examples include setting margin requirements for equity purchases, supervising consumer finance, regulating banks, and intervening in the foreign exchange markets. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Since it was revealed recently by the New York Times, the administration's previously secret NSA surveillance program has brought to the fore a number of novel and complex legal questions. Does the executive branch have inherent authority to conduct the program? What is Congress's authority to set limits on the executive branch? What role should the courts play? Those and other questions have led to different conclusions even within the Cato Institute. Please join us for a debate between two Cato scholars on this most timely issue. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The single most important economic and sociological change in our society in the past 60 years has been the entry of women into the labor market. Our public policy institutions have not kept apace. Tax law, labor law, and a host of other institutions are still designed to favor women who remain in the home and are often unfair to married women who enter the labor market. Many changes in tax law, employee benefits, and retirement policy are needed to bring aging institutions in sync with the way people live in the 21st century. Just before Mother's Day, join us for a discussion of women living and working in a 21st-century economy with 20th-century laws and policies. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Although Americans generally think of global trade only in terms of economics, the free exchange of goods and services between nations can also have important political effects. With America's attention increasingly turned toward the Middle East, the role of free trade in sparking peaceful reform must not be forgotten. To counter the threat from al-Qaeda we must fight with ideas as well as bullets.Cato senior fellow Tom G. Palmer, who has recently made three visits to Iraq, will be joined by Rep. Paul Ryan of the Congressional Middle East Economic Partnership Caucus and Zainab Al-Suwaij from the American Islamic Congress for a discussion of the importance of trade and ideas in furthering the twin goals of economic freedom and geopolitical stability. At the event the Cato Institute will unveil its Arabic-language edition of the U. S. Declaration of Independence and Constitution. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Belarus attained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. Since he took power in 1994, however, Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko has cracked down on his opponents and rigged successive elections. Today, Belarus lacks basic political freedoms, including the freedoms of the press, association, and expression. The Belarusian economy continues to be run according to the discredited socialist principle of central planning. Jaroslav Romanchuk, a prominent Belarusian opposition figure, and Anders Aslund, renowned specialist in post-Soviet economics, will discuss the state of political and economic freedom in Belarus and the role that Russia plays in keeping Lukashenko in power. Please join us for a discussion of life under what the State Department and the European Union have called "the last dictatorship in Europe." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As the War on Drugs continues to fill America's prisons with nonviolent offenders, many cities and states are looking at mandatory treatment as an alternative to incarceration. Although treatment is generally preferable to prison, not all methods of treating drug addiction are the same. Some methods, particularly the "tough love" programs aimed at teens and adolescents, have documented records of mental abuse, physical abuse, and even death.In her new book, Help at Any Cost, Maia Szalavitz takes a critical look at the history, controversy, and effectiveness of "tough love" rehabilitation programs. Blending personal stories and anecdotes with the detached narrative of a reporter, Szalavitz paints a troubling picture of the increasingly popular "get tough" approach to drug abuse. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Since Enron's collapse in 2002, the federal government has stepped up its campaign against white-collar crime. In Trapped: When Acting Ethically Is against the Law, John Hasnas compellingly illustrates how the campaign against corporate fraud has gone overboard. Hasnas debunks the common assumption that the law only mandates ethical behavior. That may have been true 20 years ago, but no longer. Hasnas points out that business executives have responsibilities to their stockholders, employees, customers, and suppliers. And in addition to their contractual obligations, CEOs have ordinary ethical obligations as human beings to honor their informal commitments. Those ethical complexities are rarely acknowledged by contemporary federal policies that demand compliance with myriad rules and regulations. The result is increasingly a Catch-22 situation in which businesspeople must act either unethically or illegally.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The idea that the United States needs a standing nation-building office has gained strong bipartisan support in Congress. The arguments in favor of such an office are rooted in the belief that failed states are threats to U.S. national security. But do failed states pose such a threat? Further, to the extent that they do, would a permanent nation-building office succeed in averting or remedying state failure? When interventions are absolutely necessary, do we need a standing nation-building corps to plan for the missions?Justin Logan will discuss his and Christopher Preble's recent Policy Analysis, "Failed States and Flawed Logic: The Case against a Standing Nation-Building Office," which explains why the presumption that state failure poses a threat to the United States is flawed. He will also explore the likely costs and risks of a foreign policy dedicated to nation building, given that U.S. nation-building projects in the past have had a highly dubious track record. Preble will explore the greatest foreign policy challenge facing the United States today — looming state failure in Iraq — and describe why it is unlikely that a standing nation-building office would have reduced the costs and risks of the current military mission there. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The election of Mwai Kibaki to the Kenyan presidency in 2002 was meant to put an end to the pervasive culture of corruption in that country. One of Kibaki's first acts as head of state was to appoint John Githongo as his anti-corruption czar. Under Kibaki's rule, however, corruption in Kenya continued unabated, and Githongo resigned his position in 2005 and moved to Great Britain. Githongo has implicated Kenya's vice president and three senior ministers in a corruption racket that has cost Kenyan taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars. Githongo will discuss the extent of corruption in Kenya, its effect on development, and the implications for foreign aid donors.View Event Pictures Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.