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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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Cato Daily Podcast

Cato's Chad Davis and Travis Fisher examine the gulf between symbolic climate pledges and the real-world complexities of energy use — from EV carbon costs to fossil-fueled resilience against natural disasters. They argue that the “climate homicide” narrative misreads the data, and that abundant, affordable energy remains humanity’s greatest defense against climate risk.
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Energy Realism: Climate Policy Meets Actual Economics

FEMA was meant to help only when disasters exceeded state capacity. Yet today it functions primarily as a national subsidy machine, encouraging development in floodplains, bailing out wealthy coastal states, and shifting costs onto taxpayers far from the danger zones. The Cato Institute's Dominik Lett and Chris Edwards discuss how well-intentioned federal aid has created perverse incentives, bureaucratic delays, and a long tail of spending that continues decades after storms like Katrina.
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The Disaster Aid System: How FEMA Rewards Risk

Romina Boccia, Michael F. Cannon, and Adam Michel break down the 43-day government shutdown driven by demands to extend temporary Obamacare subsidies for upper-income households earning well into six figures. The trio examines how the stalemate exposed deeper structural problems: runaway entitlement growth, perverse state incentives, a fragile food stamp and air-traffic control system, and a federal budget process unable to handle partisan deadlock.
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The Shutdown That Solved Nothing

The Cato Institute's Justin Logan and Brandan P. Buck unpack the Trump administration’s shifting justifications for military action in Venezuela, from fentanyl and cocaine interdiction to Monroe Doctrine revivalism. They explore the legal and strategic risks of invoking war powers under dubious pretenses, warning that the push for regime change could repeat the mistakes of Libya and Iraq while doing little to solve the hemisphere’s drug or governance problems.

Show Notes:

https://www.theamericanconservative.com/dont-do-it-mr-president/

https://www.theamericanconservative.com/when-peace-through-strength-means-war-is-peace/

https://www.cato.org/commentary/us-military-cant-solve-fentanyl-crisis

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Don’t Do It, Mr. President: The Prospect of a US War in Venezuela

Can a president tax Americans at will under the guise of a national emergency? The Cato Institute's Scott Lincicome and Brent Skorup dissect the high-stakes Supreme Court battle over Trump’s “fentanyl tariffs,” the broadest assertion of trade power in modern U.S. history. They explore how the case could reshape executive authority, revive dormant constitutional doctrines, and determine whether Congress or the White House truly controls U.S. trade policy.

Show Notes:

https://www.cato.org/blog/emergency-tariff-refunds-theres-easy-way-very-hard-way

https://www.cato.org/blog/why-three-cato-trade-scholars-filed-amicus-brief-us-supreme-court

https://www.cato.org/commentary/striking-down-tariffs-wont-hurt-anybody

https://www.cato.org/legal-briefs/trump-v-vos-selections-learning-resources-v-trump

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The Supreme Court’s $300 Billion Tariff Showdown

Romina Boccia joins Nicholas Anthony to discuss how the shutdown centers on demands to extend subsidies for earners making well above median household income—all the way up to $500,000 annually. Federal workers and SNAP recipients have been offered up as political collateral for a deal that would cause an unprecedented $1.5 trillion in additional deficit spending—all while we continue trucking toward a fiscal cliff.

Show Notes:

Romina Boccia and Tyler Turman, "Food Stamp Shutdown Reveals the Fragility of Federal Welfare," Cato at Liberty Blog, October 30, 2025

Romina Boccia and Tyler Turman, "End Obamacare’s Welfare for the Wealthy COVID Credits," Cato at Liberty Blog, October 23, 2025

Romina Boccia and Tyler Turman, "Welfare Digest | End the ACA Subsidies for the Well-Off," Debt Dispatch, October 22, 2025

Romina Boccia and Ritvik Thakur, "Debt Digest | Remove Obamacare Regulations Instead of Extending COVID-era Credits," Debt Dispatch, October 14, 2025

Romina Boccia, "Shutdown Theatrics Just Distract Us from the Real Problem: Obscene National Debt," New York Post, October 2, 2025

Romina Boccia and Ritvik Thakur, "Debt Digest | Let Obamacare COVID Credits Expire," Debt Dispatch, October 2, 2025

Romina Boccia, "Thoughts About the Government Shutdown," Cato at Liberty Blog, October 1, 2025

Romina Boccia, Ritvik Thakur, and Ivane Nachkebia, "Debt Digest | Government Shutdown Is Likely," Debt Dispatch, September 8, 2025

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What a Long Shutdown It's Been

For 60 years, the U.S. government has protected the steel industry through tariffs, quotas, and Buy American mandates. Yet steel costs remain among the highest globally, and protectionism has extracted a staggering price: $650,000 in economic damage for every steel job saved, and 75,000 manufacturing jobs lost in 2019 alone. Cato's Clark Packard and Alfredo Carrillo Obregon investigate why protectionism failed and what market-based solutions would actually work.

Show Notes:

https://www.cato.org/policy-analysis/steeled-protectionism

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The $650,000 Question: How Steel Protectionism Fails

School choice isn’t just about choosing different schools—it’s about unbundling education itself and trying new things to get kids excited about learning. Cato scholars Neal McCluskey and Colleen Hroncich envision a future where adults educated through innovative institutions bring diverse perspectives to workplaces and communities.
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Five* Types of Innovative "Schools"

School choice isn't just about choosing different schools—it's about unbundling education itself and trying new things to get kids excited about learning. Cato scholars Neal McCluskey and Colleen Hroncich envision a future where adults educated through innovative institutions bring diverse perspectives to workplaces and communities.
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Both Republicans and Democrats pressure the Fed toward different agendas, revealing deeper institutional problems. Norbert Michel and Jai Kedia argue that broad discretion and an inflated view of the Fed's influence enable mission creep and capture regardless of who holds power. The solution? Congressional legislation establishing clear rules.
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The Shutdown That Solved Nothing

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