Cato Institute

The Cato Institute is a research organization focused on public policy, often referred to as a think tank. Its mission is to champion individual freedom, limited government, free markets, and peace. The institute's researchers and experts engage in impartial and independent studies on a variety of policy topics. Established in 1977, the Cato Institute draws its name from Cato's Letters, a collection of essays from 18th-century England that advocated for a society with minimal government interference. These writings were influential to the founders of the American Revolution. The core principles of that era—individual freedom, limited government, and free markets—remain relevant today, especially in our age of global commerce and vast information access. Promoting social and economic liberty is not just beneficial for a free society; it is essential for shaping a brighter future.

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Rethinking Social Security from a Global Perspective

5 days ago | cato.org | Romina Boccia |Ivane Nachkebia

Social Security is projected to reach technical insolvency by 2033, threatening retirees with automatic 23 percent benefit cuts as the program will be unable to pay full benefits on time. The program’s looming trust-fund insolvency creates a legislative forcing mechanism and thus presents an opportunity to reimagine how Social Security could work.
Liberal Universalism and the Menace of Nationalism

1 week ago | cato.org | Ilya Somin

This article is part of the Liberty Fund’s symposium “The Legacy of David Boaz” I have few disagreements with the other contributors to the symposium in honor of David Boaz. But I want to take this opportunity to highlight some common themes that run through all our essays. Most notable is the imperative of extending liberty to as wide a range of people as possible, breaking through morally arbitrary distinctions such as those of race, gender, sexual orientation, and immigrant status.
65% of People Taken by ICE Had No Convictions, 93% No Violent Convictions

1 week ago | cato.org | David Bier

Generated with ElevenLabs AI technology. New nonpublic data from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) indicate that the government is primarily detaining individuals with no criminal convictions of any kind. Also, among those with criminal convictions, they are overwhelmingly not the violent offenses that ICE continuously uses to justify its deportation agenda. ICE has shared this data with people outside the agency, who shared the numbers with the Cato Institute.
The Nationalist Threat to Liberty

1 week ago | cato.org | Ilya Somin

Once again, I have few disagreements with the other contributors to the symposium. So I will take this opportunity to draw out a few common themes, and their implications. As before, a common theme of the various contributions is the need to extend liberty to all, without arbitrary exclusions based on factors like race, immigrant status, gender, sexual orientation, and the like.
Have Presidents Grown Too Powerful to Be Removed from Office?

1 week ago | cato.org | Gene Healy

The cover-up of President Joe Biden’s cognitive decline is a scandal “maybe worse than Watergate,” CNN’s Jake Tapper opined recently. In this case, the key question is: “What didn’t the president know and when didn’t he know it?” Last week the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee ramped up its efforts to answer these questions.
Have Drones Made Traditional Warfare Obsolete?

1 week ago | cato.org | John Mueller

For the past year or two, there has been quite a bit of discussion about how inexpensive drones have been revolutionizing warfare in Ukraine. A “key effect,” notes analyst Anatol Lieven, is that they “make it extremely difficult to create the local mass necessary for a decisive breakthrough.” He points out that “tanks cannot be brought up to the front line at all” and that “infantry can only be brought up in tiny packets.” Others have come to similar conclusions.
Tiananmen Square Down the Chinese Memory Hole

1 week ago | cato.org | Doug Bandow

This June 4th, the 36th anniversary of the crackdown on demonstrators in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, passed quietly in the People’s Republic of China. Of course, the atrocity could not be mentioned, let alone debated, in the PRC. The Chinese Communist Party long ago deposited the slaughter, in which at least hundreds and perhaps thousands died, in the national memory hole. Even now the regime tightens security on the massacre’s anniversary to prevent any embarrassing incidents.
Friday Feature: Innovation School

2 weeks ago | cato.org | Colleen Hroncich

Generated with ElevenLabs AI technology. Projects, Passion, Peers, and Play. According to MIT researcher Mitchel Resnick, these are the “four Ps of creative learning.” He notes that in kindergarten, children have historically learned through play and exploration. But he thinks too many schools have gone away from that approach. “Kindergarten is becoming like the rest of school,” he writes.
Trump Can't Force Russia and Ukraine to Make Peace

2 weeks ago | cato.org | Doug Bandow

The Russia-Ukraine war drags on, having grown more dangerous after European governments removed limits on the use of weapons provided to Kiev. Instead of trying to promote peace through more intense involvement in the conflict, President Donald Trump should wind down Washington’s role, turning responsibility for aiding Ukraine over to the Europeans. Of course, the combatants should end the war.
Arrest the Rioters and Shift ICE's Focus to Criminals

2 weeks ago | cato.org | David Bier |Alex Nowrasteh

Riots rocked Los Angeles over the weekend, ostensibly started by protesters upset at deportation raids. Yet if there are any rioters who legitimately care about immigrants and aren’t just violent opportunists, they have harmed the immigrants’ cause. The riots are just threatening the city immigrants helped build, hurting innocent residents, and setting up political support for a broader immigrant crackdown. If any rioters are illegal immigrants, they should be arrested and deported.