Rights precede government. That's the core of the American founding, and George F. Will argues that it's worth preserving. His new book is The Conservative Sensibility.

Medicare expenditures as a share of gross domestic product (GDP) are now six times larger than they were in 1967. Forecasts for the next 75 years show that almost $1 of every $5 of GDP could be spent on Medicare. That is unaffordable. Without intervention, Medicare’s share of GDP will force some combination of substantial cuts in other government spending, significantly higher taxes, and unhealthy levels of public debt.   There are many policy issues concerning main­taining or redesigning...

Featuring John F. Early, Former Assistant Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics and President of Vital Few, LLC. Some political leaders are saying that income and wealth inequality are at unacceptable levels and need to be countered by higher taxes on the wealthy and more transfer payments. But the data used to support those arguments are often misunderstood and omit key elements of the picture. John Early will describe gaps in the official data used in the inequality debate and...

Cato’s Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies and its scholars take their inspiration from the struggle of America’s founding and Civil War generations to secure liberty through constitutionally limited government. The Center’s scholars address a wide range of constitutional and legal issues, especially by encouraging the judiciary to neither make nor ignore the law but rather to interpret and apply it through the natural rights tradition inherited from the Founders. Scholars...

Freedom means something different to every person, yet its value is a common bond between Americans. In these polarized times, Freedom: Art as the Messenger aims to provide a unifying platform of civility and creativity. Artists from across the country — in a wide range of media–share innovative and thought-provoking perspectives on freedom and the enduring need for its protection. The Cato Institute presents its inaugural art exhibition, Freedom: Art as the Messenger. You can follow the...

From domestic policy to international news, healthcare reform to criminal justice, Cato’s scholars have their finger on the pulse of what’s happening inside the Beltway and around the world. They can be seen and heard on major networks and news outlets across the country.

The U.S. government’s current strategy of trying to restrict the supply of opioids for nonmedical uses is not working. While government efforts to reduce the supply of opioids for nonmedical use have reduced the volume of both legally manufactured prescription opioids and opioid prescriptions, deaths from opioid overdoses are nevertheless accelerating. Research shows the increase is due in part to substitution of illegal heroin for now harder-to-get prescription opioids. Attempting to reduce...

Those burgers you picked up at the grocery store may have originated in Hawaii. Hawaii's long-standing cattle trade is hampered by the Jones Act. For nearly 100 years the Jones Act has restricted the transportation of cargo between two points in the United States to ships that are U.S.-built, crewed, owned, and flagged. Meant to bolster the U.S. maritime industry and provide a ready supply of ships and mariners in times of conflict, the act has instead presided over a steady deterioration in...

The Trump administration’s move to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, has created an uncertain future for the 800,000 young unauthorized immigrants who had been granted protection from deportation and permission to work legally. Fernanda (22) was born in Brazil, and her mother brought her to the United States when she was only 4 years old so she could attend school here. Before Fernanda got a scholarship from TheDream.US fund and went to Delaware State...

Childcare is expensive. Economic evidence suggests childcare prices are driven higher by state-level regulations like input requirements designed to improve care quality, including staff-qualification requirements and minimum staff-to-child ratios, with little evidence that they actually work. In this video, Ryan Bourne, the Cato Institute's R. Evan Scharf Chair for the Public Understanding of Economics discusses the regressive effects of childcare regulations.

Passed in 1920, the Jones Act was meant to ensure a strong U.S. merchant marine. But the law has failed to prevent the U.S. maritime industry’s steady downward spiral, all while imposing significant economic costs.

Presidential impeachments are vanishingly rare in American constitutional history: in the 230 years since ratification, only three presidents have faced serious attempts to remove them from office. And yet, as President Donald J. Trump’s tumultuous tenure continues, it seems increasingly plausible that we’ll see a fourth. In ordinary times, in ordinary presidencies, impeachment talk is considered taboo: the “I-word” is heard only on the political fringes, if it’s heard at all. Yet Trump’s...

Why is America’s health care system so dysfunctional and expensive? Why do hospitalized patients receive bills laden with inflated charges that come out of the blue from out-of-network providers, or that demand payment for services that weren’t delivered? Why do we pay $600 for EpiPens that contain a dollar’s worth of medicine? Why is more than $1 trillion—one out of every three dollars that passes through the system—lost to fraud, wasted on services that don’t help patients, or otherwise...

After a brief overnight stay in a local hospital for snake bite treatment, Eric Ferguson was hit with a bill for $89,227. How could this possibly happen?  Hear Eric Ferguson tell his story. About the book: Overcharged: Why Americans Pay Too Much for Health Care

The Cato Institute presented Cuba’s Ladies in White (Damas de Blanco) with the 2018 Milton Friedman Prize for Advancing Liberty, a $250,000 biennial award presented to a group or individual who has made a significant contribution to advance human freedom. The Ladies in White have a simple message: The political prisoners of Cuba are our sons, brothers, and our husbands. They must not be forgotten. More about the Ladies in White

The Cato Institute presented Cuba’s Ladies in White (Damas de Blanco) with the 2018 Milton Friedman Prize for Advancing Liberty, a $250,000 biennial award presented to a group or individual who has made a significant contribution to advance human freedom. The Ladies in White have a simple message: The political prisoners of Cuba are our sons, brothers, and our husbands. They must not be forgotten. More about the Ladies in White