Cato Institute Event Videos (Full)

Critics of private investment of Social Security taxes have long pointed to the supposed dangers of an unstable market as creating conditions too risky to allow workers personal choice in planning for retirement. Indeed, the financial crisis is often used to bolster the argument that retirement funds are best left in the safe hands of the state, but how true is this claim?In a new Cato study, "Still a Better Deal: Private Investment vs. Social Security (http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=14088)," Cato Senior Fellow Michael Tanner demonstrates that actual investment returns over the past 40 years show that a system of private investment will, in fact, provide significantly higher rates of return than the current Social Security system.Please join us for a conversation with Michael as he discusses this latest policy analysis and challenges the myth of the superiority of the Social Security safety net.

(http://wpc.0873.edgecastcdn.net/000873/archive-2012/cpf-03-01-12.m4v)Watch the Event in QuickTime (M4V) (http://wpc.0873.edgecastcdn.net/000873/archive-2012/cpf-03-01-12.m4v) (http://wpc.0873.edgecastcdn.net/000873/archive-2012/cpfa-03-01-12.mp3)Download a Podcast of the Event (MP3) (http://wpc.0873.edgecastcdn.net/000873/archive-2012/cpfa-03-01-12.mp3)The Environmental Protection Agency now claims powers so broad that it can impose the most comprehensive, sweeping, and expensive regulatory regime in American history. These vast powers will be challenged in court on February 28 and 29, when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia hears oral arguments from the Coalition for Responsible Regulation on a petition to vacate EPA's greenhouse-gas emission standards for cars and light trucks, as well as regulations on "stationary" sources like power plants and factories. Current proposals range as high as 62mpg for cars. The briefs of 67 petitioners have been consolidated into a single filing that will be the subject of argument. Petitioners will argue that the EPA is in gross violation of the Clean Air Act, that the proposed regulations will have no detectable effect on global temperature or carbon dioxide concentrations, and that they impose "extraordinary costs, burdens, and other adverse consequences." On March 1, following their Court appearance, petitioners in this landmark legal action will speak at the Cato Institute on the case and its historic implications. We hope you will join us in what promises to be an exceptionally compelling event.

The Obama administration is scheduled to release its FY2013 federal budget this month. The budget is likely to include high levels of spending, huge deficits, and various tax increases. Which federal agencies would win and lose under the plan, and how would the tax and spending changes affect the economy? Will Democrats in Congress embrace the administration's proposals, and do House Republicans have a better plan? How will the scheduled "sequester" cuts affect the budget picture? Join us for a discussion with Cato fiscal experts, who will explore the new budget and the upcoming fiscal battles in Congress.

The process of economic and political integration that Europeans began in the early 1950s is being put to the test by the euro crisis, which threatens to spread economic and financial turmoil through Europe. Richard Sulik, one of the few eurozone leaders who opposed increasing Europe's bailout fund, will explain why sovereign bankruptcy, decentralization of certain policies, and other market-based solutions are better approaches for a well-integrated Europe. Doug Bandow will discuss why the euro crisis implicates the European Union and why EU governance is unlikely to improve without fundamental changes to its structure. Antonio de Lecea will explain the EU's approach to the current turmoil and discuss proposals for greater European fiscal consolidation.

Last month, the Obama Administration released a strategy document and a budget outline for the Department of Defense that proposed to cut projected spending by $259 billion over the next five years. But the United States is still expected to spend more than $2.7 trillion on its military over that period. The costs of the war in Afghanistan could add several hundred billion more. The Pentagon’s base budget will be larger, in inflation-adjusted terms, than the annual average spent during Ronald Reagan’s eight years in office. We spend too much on our military because we have asked it to do too much. President Obama would largely continue this pattern, pledging to defend other countries that can and should defend themselves, and threatening to involve U.S. troops in conflicts that we would be wise to avoid. Christopher Preble will discuss the Pentagon’s budget and outline an alternative strategy that would enable U.S. taxpayers to spend far less on the military, but still keep the nation strong and secure.

(http://www.amazon.com/Tea-Party-Patriots-American-Revolution/dp/0805094377/?tag=catoinstitute-20) In 2009, an unemployed mother of two and a politically inexperienced northern California attorney met on a conference call that would end up launching one of the largest grassroots political movements in American history. Mark Meckler and Jenny Beth Martin have since become the faces behind the Tea Party Patriots. By promoting the basic principles of free markets, limited government, and fiscal responsibility, the Patriots have capitalized on the recent groundswell of discontent around the country, inspiring a much-needed resurgence in the importance of constitutional constraints. In their new book, Meckler and Martin explain the genesis of this movement, what the Tea Party is and is not, and what its plans are for the future. Join us for the launch of this book by two emerging leaders, with comments by John Fund, a senior editor at the American Spectator and former political columnist for the Wall Street Journal.

The 2012 election campaign is upon us. You will hear a lot of "horse race" analysis over the next year, but in this month's e-Briefing, Cato scholar John Samples would like to do something different. Rather than focus on candidates and personalities, Samples will put the current presidential race in historical context and discuss the prospects for limited government now and in the future. He will also explain why President Obama, while a weakened incumbent, is not certain to lose in November.

As Barack Obama begins the fourth year of his presidency, what is the real state of our union? The president's policies have left us with continued high unemployment, difficult fiscal realities, ongoing wars, concerns over civil liberties, and general economic malaise. But do Republicans offer any better ideas? Join us for a discussion with Cato experts on what can be done with entitlement, fiscal, legal, and financial policy to solve these problems and promote limited government and economic growth.

Join us for a panel of leading technology policy experts who will discuss the implications of proposed "rogue website" legislation for entrepreneurship, free speech, Internet governance, and holders of copyrights and trademarks. TechFreedom's Berin Szoka will deliver opening remarks at this event, which marks the one-year anniversary of TechFreedom's launch.You can see who else is planning to watch or join at the Facebook event page (http://www.facebook.com/CatoInstitute?sk=events). Or follow the Twitter discussion in real time at the #SOPA (https://twitter.com/#%21/search/%23SOPA) and #SOPAnel (http://www.twitter.com/#%21/search/%23#SOPAnel) hashtags.

(http://www.amazon.com/FDR-Goes-War-Executive-Restricted/dp/1439183201/?tag=catoinstitute-20) Lots of books examine the military history of World War II. In this new book, Burt Folsom and Anita Folsom, authors of New Deal or Raw Deal? (http://www.amazon.com/New-Deal-Raw-Economic-Damaged/dp/1416592229/?tag=catoinstitute-20), look at some of the domestic aspects of the war. Taxes and spending soared — along with government propaganda for taxes — laying the groundwork for a permanently larger government. History books tell us the war ended the Depression. But the food rations, nonexistent luxuries, crippling taxes, labor strikes, and dangerous work of the time tell a different story — hardly the stuff of recovery. Indeed, the war ushered in a new level of power in the executive branch. Roosevelt seized private property, conducted illegal wiretaps, tried to silence domestic opposition, and interned 110,000 Japanese Americans. Join us for a discussion of some of the lesser-known aspects of President Roosevelt's conduct of the war.

The welfare state in Europe is collapsing, with nations such as Greece and Portugal now shut out of private credit markets and countries such as Spain and Italy likely not far behind. Unfortunately, the United States may suffer a similar fate, thanks to demographic changes and poorly designed entitlement programs. Join Jim Dorn, one of the nation's leading economics and monetary policy experts, for a discussion of the many ways in which Washington has made a bad situation worse, and what reforms are necessary to save the U.S. from fiscal crisis.

(http://www.amazon.com/Design-Liberty-Private-Property-Administration/dp/0674061845/catoinstitute-20)Without question, the most profound domestic change in America over the past century has been the vast expansion of government under the progressive worldview. Defining itself in opposition to once-dominant classical liberal theories that stressed the roles of private property, individual liberty, and limited government, progressivism received its highest expression during Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal, yet its influence continues to dominate our politics today. The signs are clear, however, that government is creaking under the enormous weight of this expansion. In his new book, Richard Epstein argues that our overregulated state allows too much discretion on the part of regulators, which results in arbitrary, unfair decisions, rent-seeking, and other abuses. Please join us for what promises to be an illuminating exchange of ideas about our current state of affairs.

In the Internet era, the public expects a more transparent government, but Congress and the administration do not perform their budgeting, appropriating, and spending functions in ways that facilitate public oversight and participation. The government could make the flow of spending authority and dollars vastly more transparent by publishing fiscal data consistent with practices such as authoritative sourcing, availability, machine-discoverability, and machine-readability. Join us for the release of an assessment of the federal government's fiscal data publication practices and a discussion of how Congress and the administration can make these functions more transparent.

The United States' engagement in Libya led to the overthrow of the Qaddafi regime. President Obama declared and conducted the war in Libya with little regard for Congress or the War Powers Act, with the acquiescence, if not the approval, of Congress. Does war in Libya mark a final transfer of the power to declare limited wars to the executive? Should Congress seek to recover its constitutional authority to declare war in cases like Libya? If so, what might Congress do to recover those powers? Please join us for a lively discussion of a central constitutional question. For recent published work on this topic, see: "Congress Surrenders the War Powers: Libya, the United Nations, and the Constitution, (http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=13805)" by John Samples.