The Cato Weekly Podcast

Why is American health care so expensive and complicated? Michael F. Cannon argues that its roots can be traced back to a often forgotten feature of the federal tax code: a supposed tax break that actually mandates expensive, low-quality health insurance.

Rikki Schlott sits down with Cannon to unpack how the tax code reshaped our health care system, distorted labor and health care markets, and left workers with less control over how their own compensation is spent.

Read Michael's article "The Original Sin of US Health Policy": https://www.cato.org/study/original-sin-us-health-policy

Producer: Barbara Galletti

Editor: Darren Walker

Post Production: Sedona LaMarre

Director of Photography: Jonathan Fields

Audio Engineer: Cecil Sherman

Assistant Editor: Lester Romero

Assistant Producer: Elcid Demonteverde

Motion Graphics: Jonathan Fields

Original Music: Cecil Sherman

Executive Producer: Kristina Kendall

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Housing, healthcare, groceries, and the cost of living give us plenty to worry about. But how bad was life before modern conveniences transformed human life?

Paul Meany sits down with Chelsea Follett, author of The Grim Old Days: An Introduction to the Preindustrial Past, to explore what everyday life was really like before antibiotics, refrigeration, indoor plumbing, and modern sanitation. From romanticized visions of the past to the extraordinary improvements we often take for granted, they examine why understanding that history matters for how we see the world today.

Buy Chelsea's new book here: https://www.cato.org/books/grim-old-days

Producer: Barbara Galletti

Post Production: Sedona LaMarre

Audio Engineer: Cecil Sherman

Original Music: Cecil Sherman

Director of Photography: Darren Walker

Assistant Editors: Lester Romero and Shaneen Gevorgiz

Assistant Producer: Elcid Demonteverde

Motion Graphics: Jonathan Fields

Executive Producer: Kristina Kendall

Hosted on Acast. See https://acast.com/privacy for more information.

Everything about the Trump administration’s oil deal with Venezuela is troubling: It was negotiated in secret, raises questions about its legality and transparency, and was made with Venezuela’s unelected interim government.

Ian Vasquez joins Laura Bondank-Harmon to explain why the agreement could undermine Venezuela’s democratic transition.

Read more of Ian's work here: https://www.cato.org/blog/everything-about-us-venezuela-oil-deal-troublesome

Producer: Barbara Galletti

Post Production: Sedona LaMarre

Audio Engineer: Cecil Sherman

Original Music: Cecil Sherman

Director of Photography: Darren Walker

Assistant Editor: Lester Romero

Motion Graphics: Jonathan Fields

Executive Producer: Kristina Kendall

Hosted on Acast. See https://acast.com/privacy for more information.

Young Americans are leaving home, finding jobs, buying homes, starting families, and saving for retirement later than previous generations. But is this a problem with young people, or are bad policies getting in their way?

Rikki Schlott sits down with Cato’s Ryan Bourne to explore how regulations, inflation, and government intervention can make these steps into adulthood harder and more expensive.

Read Cato's "Handbook on Affordability" here:

https://www.cato.org/handbook-affordability

Read Rikki's article "The Peter Pan State: How Bad Policy Delays Adulthood" here:

https://www.cato.org/free-society/spring/summer-2026/peter-pan-state-how-bad-policy-delays-adulthood

Producer & Video Editor: Barbara Galletti

Post Production: Sedona LaMarre

Audio Engineer: Cecil Sherman

Original Music: Cecil Sherman

Director of Photography: Jonathan Fields

Assistant Producer: Elcid Demonteverde

Assistant Editor: Lester Romero

Motion Graphics: Jonathan Fields

Executive Producer: Kristina Kendall

Hosted on Acast. See https://acast.com/privacy for more information.

Socialism is making a comeback in American politics, but do people actually know what "socialism" means?

In this episode of the Cato Weekly Podcast, Paul Meany sits down with Marian Tupy to unpack the rise of “democratic socialism,” the growth of the welfare state, and the crucial difference between government assistance and government control.

Read Marian's article here:

https://www.cato.org/commentary/bill-mahers-category-error-socialism

Hosted on Acast. See https://acast.com/privacy for more information.

Flock cameras and other forms of surveillance technology are spreading across America, promising to help police solve crimes. But the technology has also created a vast network for tracking where Americans go.

Join Laura Bondank-Harmon and Clark Neily as they discuss how much privacy and freedom we’re giving up in the name of security.

Hosted on Acast. See https://acast.com/privacy for more information.

How Hard Is It to Rig an American Election?

Election fraud claims are increasingly more common.

Walter Olson joins Stephen Rowe to separate genuine election irregularities from viral fraud claims. They explain what the evidence tells us about mail-in voting, voter ID, foreign interference, and the integrity of the US election system.

Read Walter's work here:

https://www.cato.org/people/walter-olson

Producer: Barbara Galletti

Post Production: Sedona LaMarre

Audio Engineer: Cecil Sherman

Original Music: Cecil Sherman

Director of Photography: Darren Walker

Assistant Producer: Elcid Demonteverde

Assistant Editor: Lester Romero

Motion Graphics: Jonathan Fields

Executive Producer: Kristina Kendall

Hosted on Acast. See https://acast.com/privacy for more information.

In an unprecedented expansion of its role in the marketplace, the Trump administration has acquired ownership interests in dozens of firms.

Cato's Scott Lincicome joins Laura Bondank-Harmon to discuss this radical move from the US government, the seen and unseen costs of intervening in the private sector, and how should Congress act if they want to put a stop to it before it's too late.

Read more of Scott's work here:

https://www.cato.org/free-society/winter-2026/conspicuous-fist-trumps-state-corporatism

Executive Producer: Kristina Kendall

Producer: Barbara Galletti

Post Production: Sedona LaMarre

Audio Engineer: Cecil Sherman

Original Music: Cecil Sherman

Director of Photography: Darren Walker

Assistant Producer: Elcid Demonteverde

Assistant Editor: Lester Romero

Motion Graphics: Jonathan Fields

Hosted on Acast. See https://acast.com/privacy for more information.

Free health care, housing, college, paid leave, and retirement benefits may sound appealing... but how would we pay for them?

Rikki Schlott sits down with Cato’s Adam Michel to unpack the Democratic Socialists of America’s ambitious agenda and the staggering cost of its proposals. If taxing the rich and corporations is not enough to foot the bill, who would be paying next?

Access Adam Michel's research here:

https://www.cato.org/blog/who-will-pay-democratic-socialisms-200-trillion-cost

Executive Producer: Kristina Kendall

Producer: Barbara Galletti

Post Production: Sedona LaMarre

Audio Engineer: Cecil Sherman

Original Music: Cecil Sherman

Director of Photography: Darren Walker

Assistant Producer: Elcid Demonteverde

Assistant Editor: Lester Romero

Motion Graphics: Jonathan Fields

Hosted on Acast. See https://acast.com/privacy for more information.

Every Tuesday on The Cato Weekly Podcast, leading scholars and policymakers from the Cato Institute delve into the big ideas shaping our world: individual liberty, limited government, free markets, and peace. Whether unpacking current events, debating civil liberties, exploring technological innovation, or tracing the history of classical liberal thought, we promise insightful analysis grounded in rigorous research and Cato’s signature libertarian perspective.

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A number that's precise, dramatic, and politically convenient should raise your suspicion, not lower it. Aaron Brown, author of Wrong Number:

How to Extract Truth from a Blizzard of Quantitative Disinformation, joins Cato's Ryan Bourne to break down the warning signs of a bad statistic, from missing context to claims that arrive straight from a press release.

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The Supreme Court has agreed to hear Vermont versus Cook County, its biggest Second Amendment case since Heller. The Cato Institute's Clark Neily, who worked on the original Heller case, joins Rikki Schlott to explain what's at stake for the 20 to 25 million Americans who already own an AR-15 style rifle.

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Rep. Kevin Fitzpatrick (R) and Rep. Thomas Suozzi (D) lead one of Washington's only bipartisan caucuses, the Problem Solvers Caucus, and they've teamed up on an affordability agenda that touches housing, energy, health care, and immigration. Ryan Bourne walks through where their plan overlaps with Cato's own affordability handbook, and where free market and interventionist solutions still diverge.

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New York City Mayor Mamdani wants five city owned grocery stores selling staples 30% below cost, at $70 million to build and $100 million a year to run. Cato's Rikki Schlott talks with Don Boudreaux about why private supermarkets survive on 2% profit margins, and what actually happens when government tries to run a store.

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Nearly 60% of housing markets in the United States have been characterized as “unaffordable.” Cato's Ryan Bourne talks with Howard Husock of the American Enterprise Institute about why rent freezes, vouchers, and government run housing tend to make the problem worse, using New York City as a cautionary case study. They lay out what actually works instead: zoning reform, faster permitting, and more small multifamily housing.

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Earlier this year the Supreme Court ruled that the president could not use the "International Emergency Economic Powers Act" (IEEPA) to impose tariffs and the administration immediately turned to other legal mechanisms to assert that power.

Laura Bondank-Harmon interviews Clark Neily and Ilya Somin to unpack the legal battles over Trump’s tariffs, the statutes the administration is now invoking, and the constitutional limits on the president’s power to tax.

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Most rich countries that tried annual wealth taxes eventually scrapped them, but now California and Elizabeth Warren want to run the experiment in the United States. Ryan Bourne talks with Adam Michel about how a “modest” 3 percent levy can swallow 60 percent of an asset’s 5 percent return—and leave workers footing much of the bill.

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The conflict with Iran is simultaneously ending and escalating, and Justin Logan says that's no accident. He tells the Cato Institute's Laura Bondank-Harmon why the strategic case never existed, even as the death toll, price tag, and oil prices keep climbing.

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Artificial intelligence could transform productivity, employment, and living standards. But does that mean governments should “act now” to “steer” the technology? Economist John Cochrane joins Cato’s Ryan Bourne to explain why he thinks a prominent economists’ letter gets the problem wrong, whether fears of mass job loss are justified, and how speculation about AI’s potential is already shaping public policy.

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Medicare spent $1.2 trillion in 2025 and still can't show it's saving lives. The Cato Institute's Laura Bondank-Harmon is joined by Michael Cannon and David Hyman to mark the program's 60th anniversary, explaining how it broke health care pricing and why "Medicare for All" would only make it worse.

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