Colleen Hroncich Thales Academy was founded in 2007 by entrepreneur Bob Luddy, who was frustrated when he realized how poorly educated workers in his plant had been. “We had individuals working in the plant who could understand one inch or two inches but not fractions,” he told the Cato Institute. “It shocked me.” From its modest beginnings—30 students meeting in ...
Nicholas Anthony A growing concern has emerged in recent years that stablecoins are secretly central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) in disguise. This concern has grown significantly since President Donald Trump and Congress have become more supportive of stablecoins. There is certainly overlap between the two monetary technologies, but it’s important to keep the categories distinct. Only CBDCs involve governments having ...
Matthew Cavedon and Laura Bondank Michael Wearry and James Skinner were convicted of the same murder more than twenty years ago. In 2016, the Supreme Court vacated Wearry’s conviction, finding that the prosecution’s failure to disclose material evidence in accordance with Brady v. Maryland violated Wearry’s due process rights. Following Wearry’s success, Skinner brought his own claim for postconviction relief, arguing ...
Michael Chapman The Rescissions Act of 2025, signed into law by President Trump on July 24, retracts approximately $8 billion in funding from the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and other foreign assistance programs. While the legislation does not abolish USAID outright—a step requiring congressional action—it marks a significant reduction in the agency’s budget and operations. For libertarians and ...
David Inserra Brazilian Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes. The Trump administration recently announced that it would be sanctioning Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes for his flagrant abuse of due process and censorship of not only countless Brazilians but also American individuals and companies. This comes just a couple of weeks after the Trump administration also revoked the ...
Tad DeHaven President Trump issued an executive order in February to plan a US sovereign wealth fund (SWF). An SWF is a government investment fund that manages public assets, typically financed from surplus or natural resource revenues, to generate long-term returns for government use. It’s a bad idea. But now ex-Intel CEO and CHIPS Act cheerleader Pat Gelsinger has reemerged ...
David Inserra I wanted to address some criticism my misinformation paper received (and thanks to Mike Masnick for discussing this disagreement in a thoughtful, even-handed way). The critique makes a few arguments that I want to respond to because while we have differences, I think there are also some points of agreement. First is the criticism that I get stuck ...
Walter Olson Number twelve in our series of occasional roundups on election law and policy: Coming next week! I’ll be hosting an online Cato discussion on lessons of the NYC mayoral primary for ranked choice voting and other election reforms with Washington Post columnist Megan McArdle, independent election policy author David Daley, and John Ketcham, who works on governance issues ...
Kyle Handley I signed the economists’ amicus brief in V.O.S. Selections, Inc. v. Trump because it challenges something deeper than just one set of tariffs—it challenges the use of emergency powers in a way that threatens the stability and predictability of US trade policy for US businesses and consumers. The main points are simple enough: bilateral trade deficits (and surpluses) ...
Jeffrey Miron and Jacob Winter States and cities throughout the US continue to raise their minimum wages, and some members of Congress are pushing for a federal increase. There have long been debates, however, about whether these policies cause unemployment. A recent study sheds new light on this question by examining whether minimum wage increases in the United States expanded ...