The Cato Institute

The Cato Institute is a non-profit public policy research foundation headquartered in Washington, D.C. The Institute is named for Cato's Letters, a series of libertarian pamphlets that helped lay the philosophical foundation for the American Revolution.

The Cato Institute seeks to broaden the parameters of public policy debate to allow consideration of the traditional American principles of limited government, individual liberty, free markets and peace. Toward that goal, the Institute strives to achieve greater involvement of the intelligent, concerned lay public in questions of policy and the proper role of government.
Mon Sep 28
Yes, the Lags Are Long and Variable

I agree with Sumner that the Fed has the ability to create hyperinflation. The questions are how long it would take for this to happen and by which mechanism it would transpire. The mechanism I have…

Agreements and Disagreements

The discussion seems to be careening into ever more technical issues, with George Selgin now invoking “Calvo-pricing probability parameters” and “Ramsay-optimal monetary policy.” Although I find this…

Taxing Banks for Holding Reserves

In his first reply to the three of us, Scott Sumner asked: “Does anyone have any thoughts on my proposal to charge a negative interest rate on excess reserves as a way of reducing the hoarding of…

Score-Keeping with Selgin

George, every time I read your arguments it makes me want to chop a few more tenths of a percent off my proposed NGDP growth target. This was no exception. However I am still not completely convinced…

Weekend Links http://bit.ly/262dij #tlot

Who’s Blogging about Cato http://bit.ly/Mc6VT #tlot

Why Public Sector Unionism Is a Bad Deal for Taxpayers and Representative Government http://tinyurl.com/y8puxxx #tlot

Is This Intervention Necessary? http://bit.ly/9CEnC #tlot

Obama administration: Hey, let’s send people to jail who don’t buy health insurance. http://bit.ly/x7cep #hcr #tlot #tcot #topprog #health

A Federal Ban on Texting While Driving? http://bit.ly/M2asg #tlot