Author Archive
Nader Supports Health Savings Accounts?
In a recent article Ralph Nader attacks several critics of Obama’s health care reform proposal, including Cato:
Now enters the well-insured libertarian Cato Institute with full-page ads in the Washington Post and The New York Times charging Obama with pursuing government-run health care. A picture of Uncle Sam pointing under the headline “Your New Doctor.” Nonsense. The well-insured people at Cato should know better than to declare that this “government takeover” would “reduce health care quality.”
I agree that Cato employees are “well-insured” – a description so appropriate that Nader used it twice in a single paragraph. At Cato we have Health Savings Accounts, which are probably the closest thing to free market health insurance allowed by law.
It’s nice to see Nader, a proponent of socialized medicine, praise HSAs. But it’s unfortunate that his preferred options for health care would abolish HSAs entirely.
Filed under: Government and Politics; Health, Welfare & Entitlements
An Uneven Playing Field
Cato’s tax experts, Chris Edwards and Dan Mitchell, have written extensively on international tax competition. Their research shows that countries can help attract investment and spur economic growth by lowering their tax rates.
Could countries employ this same strategy to make their sports teams better?
Real Madrid, one of the most popular and successful soccer teams in the world, recently purchased the rights to two of the sport’s top players. They acquired Kaka, who was named the world’s best soccer player in 2007, from Italian powerhouse, AC Milan. And they lured Cristiano Ronaldo, the world’s top player in 2008, away from Manchester United, the reigning champions of the English Premier League.
There are a number of reasons why Kaka and Ronaldo are moving to Spain, but it’s pretty clear that taxes played a significant role. That’s because in 2005, Spain passed a tax break for foreign workers, including soccer players. This gives Spanish teams a huge advantage in bidding wars with teams from higher-tax countries like Italy and England. To make matters worse, England recently raised its top income tax rate.
“The new tax rate in England is going to make things much harder for English clubs,” noted Jonathan Barnett, a leading sports agent whose clients include Glen Johnson, Ashley Cole and Peter Crouch. “It will hinder the [English] Premier League and help the Spanish league because Spain has big tax discounts for footballers, so there’s an enormous advantage to go there. Someone like Ronaldo could be offered the same money at Real Madrid but be 25% better off.”
Similarly, a frustrated executive from AC Milan blames Kaka’s departure on the Italian tax system: “I repeat, this is all a matter of different types of taxation. If we were a Spanish club, we would have saved €40 million.”
Policymakers and soccer fans alike should take note.
Filed under: International Economics and Development; Tax and Budget Policy
New at Cato
For a daily email briefing of new Cato articles, events and studies, subscribe to Cato Today.
- At CNN.com, Ilya Shapiro says that the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor for the Supreme Court shows that identity politics matter to President Obama more than merit.
- In the Washington Examiner, Gene Healy makes the case for downsizing the imperial vice presidency.
- In Reason Magazine, Brink Lindsey discusses what he calls “Nostalgianomics,” and how liberal economists pine for days no liberal should want to revisit.
- At TheNextRight.com, Roger Pilon explains why the Sotomajor confirmation hearings are an opportunity for Republicans to reestablish their identity.
- In Wednesday’s Cato Daily Podcast, Tim Lynch says that hate crime laws sacrifice key constitutional protections.
New at Cato
For the newest Cato articles, papers and television appearances, subscribe to Cato Today.
- In The Washington Times, Richard Rahn explains how the current tax crackdown could deepen the country’s economic woes.
- In the Washington Examiner, Gene Healy discusses Wanda Sykes’ speech at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner and the lost pastime of making fun of the president.
- Nat Hentoff cries foul on the new “hate crimes” legislation that is currently advancing through Congress.
- On NPR.org, Michael Cannon explains why 2009 will not be a good year for health care reform.
- At National Review online, Jerry Taylor contends that Jack Kemp’s political career ultimately did the cause of limited government more harm than good.
- In Wednesday’s Cato Daily Podcast, Mark A. Calabria discusses the president’s plan for regulating credit card companies.
- Watch Chris Edwards on CNN discussing why the pay gap between government and private workers is rapidly growing wider.
New at Cato
Here are a few highlights from Cato Today, a daily email from the Cato Institute. You can subscribe, here.
- Don’t want to buy GM, Chrysler or AIG stock? Too bad, says Richard Rahn.
- Jim Powell spells out Obama’s tax assault on U.S. businesses in National Review.
- In Forbes magazine, Dan Mitchell reiterates his defense of tax havens.
- Will Wilkinson explains what happens when you start playing politics with private enterprise in Marketplace.
- In Thursday’s Cato Daily Podcast, ElCato.org editor Gabriela Calderon discusses elections in Ecuador.
New at Cato
For more content from Cato, subscribe to our YouTube channel.
- In the Boston Herald, Jeffrey A. Miron argues that states should balance their budgets by cutting spending rather than raising taxes.
- In the Detroit News, Doug Bandow argues that strengthening our economic ties with South Korea could increase American influence over the region even as China’s power grows.
- Listen to Will Wilkinson comment on the Chrysler bankruptcy on American Public Media’s Marketplace.
- Watch Dan Mitchell discuss offshore tax havens on The Today Show.
- Join the Cato Institute on June 1 for a conference on the lessons we can learn from the New Deal and the Great Depression.
- In Wednesday’s Cato Daily Podcast, Jason Kuznicki discusses the newest edition of Cato Unbound.
New At Cato
For more commentary, visit Cato’s op-ed archive.
- Appearing on Fox News, foreign policy analyst Malou Innocent discusses the recent violence in Pakistan.
- In the American Spectator, Doug Bandow questions the reasons why the U.S. is still a member of NATO.
- Randal O’Toole argues that high-speed rail is not the solution to efficiency and environmental problems in the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
- In The Washington Times, Nat Hentoff argues that officials who sanctioned and participated in torture should not be allowed to use the “just following orders” excuse.
- In today’s Cato Daily Podcast, Mark Calabria discusses the Troubled Asset Relief Program.
New at Cato
New articles, videos and Podcasts today:
- In the Chicago Tribune, David Boaz questions whether Arlen Specter’s party change will take the Senate further to the left.
- Appearing on News Channel 8 in Washington, Boaz comments on Obama’s record as president.
- Watch Brandon Arnold discuss Obama’s first 100 days in office on BNN Canada.
- For more on Obama’s first 100 days, watch Gene Healy’s interview on AP TV.
- Join Cato on Capitol Hill tomorrow to see Chris Preble and Paul J. Saunders discuss Preble’s new book, The Power Problem: How American Military Dominance Makes Us Less Safe, Less Prosperous, and Less Free.
- Chris Preble will be on Capitol Hill again on May 11 with Jim Harper to explain why overreaction and misdirection play into the strategy of terrorism.
- In Thursday’s Cato Daily Podcast, legal scholar Ilya Shapiro discusses how a Supreme Court decision could change racial preference hiring laws in the United States.
New at Cato
New articles, videos and Podcasts today:
- Ilya Shapiro asks the Supreme Court to review a medical law case with First Amendment issues in a new legal brief.
- Doug Bandow argues against economic retreat in East Asia.
- At National Review online, Edward Crane discusses Obama’s 100-day record.
- Also at National Review online, James Tooley tells the story of black-market schools in impoverished countries.
- Appearing on Fox Business Network, Gerald P. O’Driscoll Jr. discusses the Federal Reserve’s current meeting.
- In Wednesday’s Cato Daily Podast, Aaron Yelowitz discusses the problems with employer health care mandates.
New at Cato
Here are a few highlights from Cato Today, a daily email from the Cato Institute.
- Dan Ikenson and Scott Lincicome argue in a new study that restoring the pro-trade consensus must be a top priority for the Obama administration.
- In the DC Examiner, Gene Healy discusses Obama’s first 100 days and argues that he’s massively expanded the power of government in a short period of time.
- In the Asia Times Online, David Isenberg discusses private security contractors in the war in Iraq.
- Watch Patrick J. Michaels discuss energy on CNBC.
- In Tuesday’s Cato Daily Podcast, Peter Van Doren discusses the interaction between Congress and regulators on the issue of food safety.
New at Cato
Here are a few highlights from Cato Today, a daily email from the Cato Institute. You can subscribe, here.
- Marian Tupy discusses African aid in his new Development Policy Analysis, “The False Promise of Gleneagles: Misguided Priorities at the Heart of the New Push for African Development,” and an op-ed in the Washington Times.
- Swaminathan Aiyar argues against a global currency in The Guardian.
- Daniel J. Mitchell calls for abolishing the death tax in USA Today.
- Will Wilkinson argues for more liberal immigration policies in The Week magazine.
- In the Christian Science Monitor, Benjamin Friedman says the United States should cut military spending in half.
- In Monday’s Cato Daily Podcast, Jim Harper explains why Obama’s record on following through with his campaign promise to post bills online for five days before signing is worse than the Washington Nationals’.
New at Cato
Here are a few highlights from Cato Today, a daily email from the Cato Institute. You can subscribe, here.
- “Bright Lines and Bailouts: To Bail or Not To Bail, That Is the Question”: Vern McKinley and Gary Gegenheimer have a new Policy Analysis that discusses the failure of bank bailouts.
- In a new piece at National Interest (Online), Doug Bandow offers a new strategy for dealing with Kim Jong Il.
- Nat Hentoff reports on Obama’s broken promises of transparency in the Washington Times.
- Make no mistake: “Of course it was torture,” says Gene Healy in this week’s Examiner column.
- In Tuesday’s Cato Daily Podcast, foreign policy analyst Benjamin Friedman discusses the record of Defense Secretary Robert Gates under Obama.
Filed under: Cato Publications; Foreign Policy and National Security; General
New at Cato
Here are a few highlights from Cato Today, a daily email from the Cato Institute. You can subscribe here.
- Scott Lincicome discusses how the Obama administration has put U.S. leadership in free trade in jeopardy.
- Ted Galen Carpenter discusses President Obama’s recent trip to Mexico to meet with President Felipe Calderon.
- Appearing on PBS, Cato Chairman Robert A. Levy debates the state of American gun laws.
- Watch Juan Carlos Hidalgo discuss Obama’s trip to Mexico on BBC World.
- In today’s Cato Daily Podcast, John Samples discusses what the “Tea Party” protests mean for the GOP.
New at Cato
Here are a few highlights from Cato Today, a daily email from the Cato Institute. You can subscribe here.
- Andrew Coulson argues that Obama’s rhetoric on education doesn’t square with the reality of his budget.
- Christopher Preble and Malou Innocent declare that Obama deserves credit for choosing effective means for definite ends in Afghanistan.
- Watch Daniel J. Mitchell discusses high-speed rail on ABC’s “Good Morning America.”
- Join the Cato Institute Thursday, April 16 to hear Welile Nhlapo, South African ambassador to the United States, discuss the upcoming South African election.
- In a new video, Cato scholars reveal the heavy burden of today’s tax code.
- In today’s Cato Daily Podcast Chris Edwards discusses National Tax Day.
New at Cato
Here are a few highlights from Cato Today, a daily email from the Cato Institute. You can subscribe here.
- Malou Innocent argues that the United States should not increase its troop presence in Pakistan in a new Cato Policy Analysis.
- Doug Bandow discusses Tax Freedom Day in the American Spectator.
- Watch Tucker Carlson discuss whether a president should blame problems on past administrations on Fox News.
- Chris Edwards is finishing his live debate with French economist Thomas Piketty over whether the rich should pay higher tax rates. Readers decide who wins, so don’t miss the chance to cast your vote.
- Join the Cato Institute Wednesday, April 15 to hear James Tooley, author of The Beautiful Tree:A Personal Journey Into How the World’s Poorest People Are Educating Themselves, discuss successful ways to educate the world’s poor.
New at Cato
Here are a few highlights from Cato Today, a daily email from the Cato Institute. You can subscribe, here.
- Alan Reynolds explains what really triggered the world recession and why the U.S. should not be the first to be blamed in the New York Post.
- Will Wilkinson discusses why the current economic crisis cannot be compared to the Great Depression in Marketplace.
- Watch Daniel J. Mitchell debate whether the economy is headed in the right direction on CNBC.
- Thursday’s Cato Daily Podcast features James A. Dorn discussing China’s proposition for a new world currency.
New at Cato
Here are a few highlights from Cato Today, a daily email from the Cato Institute. You can subscribe, here
- The new edition of Regulation examines the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), the legal drinking age and climate change policies.
- In The Week, Will Wilkinson argues that the Obama administration should rethink its drug policy and that prominent marijuana users should “come out of the closet.”
- Gene Healy points out in the Washington Examiner why the Serve America Act (SAA) is no friend to freedom.
- The Cato Weekly Video features Rep. Paul Ryan discussing the Obama administration’s budget.
- In Wednesday’s Cato Daily Podcast, Patri Friedman discusses seasteading and the prospects for liberty on the high seas.
Filed under: Cato Publications; General; Government and Politics; Regulatory Studies; Tax and Budget Policy
New at Cato (4/7/09)
Here are a few highlights from Cato Today, a comprehensive daily email from the Cato Institute. You can subscribe, here
- Focusing on “Lessons from the Financial Crisis” the newest edition of Cato Journal is now available.
- In The Wall Street Journal, Steven Gjerstad and Vernon L. Smith discuss why asset bubbles form in markets, and how they can lead to a Depression.
- Ted Galen Carpenter comments on last weekend’s NATO agreement on what strategy to pursue with Afghanistan in National Interest.
- Writing in The Washington Times, Nat Hentoff weighs in on the human rights atrocities that continue in Darfur.
- In Tuesday’s Cato Daily Podcast, Glenn Greenwald discusses his new Cato report on the successful drug decriminalization in Portugal.
New at Cato
Here are a few highlights from Cato Today, a comprehensive daily email from the Cato Institute. You can subscribe, here.
- In a new study, “NATO at 60: A Hollow Alliance,” Ted Galen Carpenter argues that NATO has outlived whatever usefulness it once had.
- Doug Bandow weighs the usefulness of NATO in the American Spectator.
- David Isenberg discusses the use of private military and security contractors in war for United Press International.
- Timothy Lynch and Ilya Shapiro take on illegal searches in a legal brief submitted to the Supreme Court.
- In Monday’s Cato Daily Podcast, Dambisa Moyo, author of Dead Aid: Why Aid Is Not Working and How There Is a Better Way for Africa, discusses the failure of government aid to Africa.
Republicans and Earmarks
This week, a handful of fiscally conservative Republican senators have been trying to cut earmarks out of the $410 billion omnibus appropriations bill. According to Taxpayers for Common Sense, the legislation contains 8,570 earmarks worth $7.7 billion.
Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) has sought to strike specific items, like the $200,000 earmark for Tattoo Removal Violence Prevention Outreach Program in Burbank, California and the $1.9 million earmark to the Pleasure Beach Water Taxi Service in Connecticut.
Senator John McCain (R-AZ) has taken a broader approach by introducing an amendment to strike all earmarks from the bill and revert to last year’s spending levels.
Not surprisingly, they have been unsuccessful. And given recent events, one must wonder if these efforts by fiscal conservatives are even welcomed by members of their own party.
The amendments introduced by Coburn and McCain were defeated by opposition from not only by the majority of Democratic senators, but also many Republican appropriators, like Senators Thad Cochrane (R-MS) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK).
And despite his occasional anti-earmark rhetoric and support for the Coburn and McCain amendments, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is one of the chief beneficiaries of the earmark-laden omnibus bill. Reports suggest he requested either $75 or $51 million for his home state of Kentucky. Either way, he will obtain far more than his Democratic counterpart, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), whose earmark requests total $26 million.
Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO) has been fairly consistent in her criticism of the earmarking process and, for the most part, has voted accordingly. Proving that Republican affection for earmarking is a bicameral phenomenon, her stance attracted ire from Representative Roy Blunt (R-MO), formerly one of the highest-ranking Republicans in House, who said he “would hope that Claire would change her mind on this,” as he praised Senator Kit Bond’s (R-MO) prowess at earmarking.
Now, earmarks make up a relatively small slice of the overall budget, but as Coburn has noted, the problem with earmarks is ‘‘the hidden cost of perpetuating a culture of fiscal irresponsibility. When politicians fund pork projects they sacrifice the authority to seek cuts in any other program.”
For more on earmarks, check out the “Corporate Welfare and Earmarks” chapter of the Cato Handbook for Policymakers.
Cato on Facebook
Cato on Twitter
Cato on YouTube
Cato Tweets