Jeffrey A. Singer Below is an excerpt of the new book Your Body, Your Health Care (Cato Institute 2025) by Jeffrey A. Singer, MD, a senior fellow in Health Policy Studies at the Cato Institute, a practicing surgeon, and a fellow of the American College of Surgeons. INTRODUCTION As a general surgeon, when patients consult me for health problems and ...
Michael Chapman Frédéric Bastiat (1801–1850) (Image: LefontQ on Wikimedia Commons.) To understand the folly of protectionism, including the use of tariffs, there is perhaps no greater teacher than Frederic Bastiat (1801–1850), a classical liberal economist who fought for economic freedom in 19th-century France. His famous satirical missive, the “Candlemaker’s Petition,” published below, reveals the illogic and self-destructive nature of protectionism ...
Alan Reynolds (Photo: historyonthenet.com) Benjamin M. Anderson was a legendary Austrian economist at Chase National Bank from 1929 to 1939, then a UCLA economist until his death in 1949, the publication year of this remarkable insider’s analysis of US financial and economic history as it happened. Benjamin M. Anderson, Economics and the Public Welfare: A Financial and Economic History of ...
Jeffrey A. Singer Today, the Cato Institute is releasing my new book, Your Body, Your Health Care—a defense of your right to make your own health care decisions without government interference. My book examines health care policy through a lens that presumes liberty and autonomy. As adults, we are sovereign individuals with moral agency who possess our bodies. As a ...
Thomas A. Firey The bitter reaction by economists and Wall Street to the Trump administration’s new tariff regime has put a spotlight on one of Donald Trump’s top economic advisers, Peter Navarro. Once a supporter of the mainstream view that foreign exchange is beneficial and trade deficits are unimportant, Navarro shifted radically about 15 years ago, borne by fear of the ...
Chris Edwards President Trump’s anti-market impulses are taking center stage this week with his damaging tariff policies. But the president is occasionally supportive of pro-market reforms, such as his remarks on possibly privatizing the US Postal Service (USPS). A Trump reform push would be welcome because the USPS is an ailing dinosaur in the modern digital economy. The figure below ...
Kyle Handley Recent critiques of international economics may surprise many actual economists. The latest rap against my profession is that we economists were too ideological and optimistic about the benefits of open trade and global markets while ignoring job losses, industrial decline, and economic distress in the United States. One recent op-ed went so far as to suggest trade policymakers do the exact opposite ...
Adam N. Michel After five rounds of voting, the pass-through tax deduction was chosen as the worst tax expenditure. The 20 percent business deduction arbitrarily favors certain types of businesses over others and adds tremendous complexity to the tax code. The results from the Tax Expenditures Madness bracket suggest that Congress fundamentally rethink how the United States taxes business income. ...
Jeffrey A. Singer In 2019, Colorado lawmakers reduced possession of up to four grams of most controlled substances to a misdemeanor. Distribution or sale of controlled substances remained felonies. The law took effect as the fentanyl wave was making its way across the country, from east to west, and shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic caused a spike in alcohol and illicit drug use and fentanyl-related ...
Erec Smith On March 25, Free Black Thought live-streamed a forum hosted by TakeCharge, a nonprofit committed to demonstrating that America offers opportunities for all, regardless of race or social status. TakeCharge encourages Black Americans to reclaim their cultural identity through faith, family, and education, emphasizing personal and community responsibility. This forum, titled “The Crisis of the Black Family,” was moderated ...