Cato advocates for a limited governmental role in domestic and foreign affairs as well as strong protection of
civil liberties. This includes support for lowering or abolishing most taxes, opposition to the
Federal Reserve system and the
Affordable Care Act, the privatization of numerous government agencies and programs including
Social Security and the
United States Postal Service, demilitarization of the police, open borders and adhering to a
non-interventionist foreign policy.
In 1981, Murray Rothbard was removed from the Cato Institute by the board.[11] The board wanted to move Cato into political policy making. Rothbard thought it should be devoted to scholarship.[12][third-party source needed]
Cato relocated to Washington, D.C., in 1981, settling initially in a historic house on
Capitol Hill.[13]: 446 The institute moved to its current location on
Massachusetts Avenue in 1993. Cato Institute was named the fifth-ranked think tank in the world for 2009 in a study of think tanks by James G. McGann, PhD, of the
University of Pennsylvania, based on a criterion of excellence in "producing rigorous and relevant research, publications and programs in one or more substantive areas of research".[14]
By 2011, the Cato Institute had a budget of $39 million.[citation needed]
Activities
Various Cato programs were favorably ranked in a survey on think tanks published by the
University of Pennsylvania in 2012.[8]
Publications
The Cato Institute publishes numerous policy studies, briefing papers, periodicals, and books. Journals include the Cato Journal[15][16][17]
(since 1981) and
Regulation (acquired in 1990).[18][19][20] Other periodicals include Cato's Letter,[21]Cato Supreme Court Review,[22] and Cato Policy Report.[23] Cato published Inquiry Magazine from 1977 to 1982 (before transferring it to the
Libertarian Review Foundation)[24] and Literature of Liberty from 1978 to 1979 (before transferring it to the
Institute for Humane Studies).[25] Additionally, Cato publishes numerous white papers on a wide variety of policy topics. Some notable examples include Drug Decriminalization in Portugal: Lessons for Creating Fair and Successful Drug Policies (2009) by
Glenn Greenwald and Overkill: The Rise of Paramilitary Policy Raids in America (2006) by
Radley Balko.[citation needed]
The Cult of the Presidency: America's Dangerous Devotion to Executive Power (
Gene Healy, 2008)
The Beautiful Tree: A Personal Journey into How the World's Poorest People are Educating Themselves (
James Tooley, 2009, winner of the Sir Antony Fisher International Memorial Award)
The Encyclopedia of Libertarianism (2008,
Ronald Hamowy)
Islam Without Extremes: A Muslim Case for Liberty (
Mustafa Akyol, 2011)
The Financial Crisis and the Free Market Cure (
John A. Allison, 2012)
The Libertarian Mind: A Manifesto for Freedom (
David Boaz, 2015, previously Libertarianism: A Primer)
The Libertarian Reader (Edited by
David Boaz, 2015)
The Radio Right (Paul Matzko, 2020)
Rise of the Warrior Cop: The Militarization of America's Police Forces (
Radley Balko, 2013)
Open: The Story of Human Progress (
Johan Norberg, 2020)
Podcasts
The Cato Daily Podcast,[28] hosted by Caleb O. Brown, allows Cato Institute scholars and other commenters to discuss relevant news and libertarian thought in a conversational, informal manner.
Power Problems,[29] hosted by John Glaser, is a bi‐weekly podcast offering a skeptical take on U.S. foreign policy, and discussion of today's big questions in international security with guests from across the political spectrum.
Cato Events[30] offers listeners a chance to stay up‐to‐date on a wide range of essential contemporary issues through presentations by leading national authorities.
Cato Audio[31] covers important policy debates in Washington.
Cato Out Loud,[32] provides the most notable of Cato's print publications in an audio format.
Free Thoughts, hosted by Aaron Ross Powell and Trevor Burrus, is a weekly show about politics and liberty, featuring conversations with top scholars, philosophers, historians, economists, and public policy experts.
Building Tomorrow, hosted by Paul Matzko, explores the ways technology, innovation, and entrepreneurship are creating a freer, wealthier, and more peaceful world.
Pop & Locke, hosted by Landry Ayres and Natalie Dowzicky, explores the intersection of political ideas and pop culture.
Portraits of Liberty investigates the lives and philosophies of thinkers throughout history who argued in favor of a freer world.
The Pursuit, hosted by Tess Terrible, Landry Ayres, and Natalie Dowzicky, is a podcast about government action and individual liberty.
Liberty Chronicles, hosted by Anthony Comegna, combines innovative libertarian thinking about history with specialist interviews, primary and secondary sources, and answers to listener questions.
Excursions into Libertarian Thought, hosted by George H. Smith, explores the history of libertarian ideas.
Classics of Liberty, hosted by Caleb O. Brown, relives classic works and speeches of classical liberals
The Human Progress Podcast, hosted by Marian L. Tupy and Chelsea Follett, explores different aspects of progress and the challenges to progress.
Web projects
In addition to maintaining its own website in English and Spanish,[33] Cato maintains websites focused on particular topics:
"Downsizing the Federal Government" contains essays on the size of the U.S. federal government and recommendations for decreasing various programs.[34]
Libertarianism.org is a website focused on the theory and practice of
libertarianism.[35]
Cato Unbound, a web-only publication that features a monthly open debate among four people. The conversation begins with one lead essay, followed by three response essays by separate people. After that, all four participants can write as many responses and counter-responses as they want for the duration of that month.
PoliceMisconduct.net contains reports and stories from Cato's National Police Misconduct Reporting Project and the National Police Misconduct News Feed.[36]
FreedomInthe50States.org ranks states by policies that shape personal and economic freedom.[39]
Conferences
The Cato Institute hosts conferences throughout the year. Topics include monetary policy, the U.S. Constitution, poverty and social welfare, technology and privacy, financial regulation, and civic culture.[40]
Many Cato scholars have advocated support for civil liberties, liberal immigration policies,[50] drug liberalization,[51] and the repeal of
Don't Ask Don't Tell and laws restricting consensual sexual activity.[52][53] The Cato Institute officially resists being labeled as part of the conservative movement because "'conservative' smacks of an unwillingness to change, of a desire to preserve the status quo".[54]
Cato has strong ties to the political philosophy of
classical liberalism.[55][56][57] According to executive vice president
David Boaz, libertarians are classical liberals who strongly emphasize the individual right to liberty. He argues that, as the term "liberalism" became increasingly associated with government intervention in the economy and social welfare programs, some classical liberals abandoned the old term and began to call themselves “
libertarians”.[58] Officially, Cato admits that the term “classical liberal” comes close to the mark of labeling its position, but fails to capture the contemporary vibrancy of the ideas of freedom. According to Cato's mission statement, the Jeffersonian philosophy that animates Cato's work has increasingly come to be called 'libertarianism' or 'market liberalism.' It combines an appreciation for entrepreneurship, the market process, and lower taxes with strict respect for civil liberties and skepticism about the benefits of both the welfare state and foreign military adventurism.[59][60]
In 2006,
Markos Moulitsas of the
Daily Kos proposed the term "
Libertarian Democrat" to describe his particular liberal position, suggesting that libertarians should be allies of the Democratic Party. Replying, Cato's vice president for research
Brink Lindsey agreed that libertarians and liberals should view each other as natural ideological allies,[61] and noted continuing differences between mainstream liberal views on economic policy and Cato's "
Jeffersonian philosophy".
Some Cato scholars disagree with conservatives on neo-conservative foreign policy, albeit that this has not always been uniform.[62][failed verification]
The relationship between Cato and the
Ayn Rand Institute (ARI) improved with the nomination of Cato's new president
John A. Allison IV in 2012. He is a former ARI board member and is reported to be an "ardent devotee" of Rand who has promoted reading her books to colleges nationwide.[63] In March 2015, Allison retired as president, remaining on the board, and was succeeded by Peter Goettler.[64]
Positions
The Cato Institute advocates policies that advance "individual
liberty,
limited government,
free markets, and
peace". They are libertarian in their policy positions, typically advocating diminished government intervention in domestic, social, and economic policies and decreased military and political intervention worldwide. Cato was cited by columnist
Ezra Klein as nonpartisan, saying that it is "the foremost advocate for small-government principles in American life" and it "advocates those principles when Democrats are in power, and when Republicans are in power";[65] and
Eric Lichtblau called Cato "one of the country's most widely cited research organizations."[66] Nina Eastman reported in 1995 that "on any given day, House Majority Whip
Tom DeLay of Texas might be visiting for lunch. Or Cato staffers might be plotting strategy with House Majority Leader
Dick Armey, another Texan, and his staff."[67]
Cato is an opponent of
campaign finance reform, arguing that government is the ultimate form of potential corruption and that such laws undermine democracy by undermining competitive elections. Cato also supports the repeal of the
Federal Election Campaign Act.[92][93]
Cato has published strong criticisms of the
1998 settlement which many U.S. states signed with the
tobacco industry.[94] In 2004, Cato scholar Daniel Griswold wrote in support of President George W. Bush's failed proposal to grant temporary work visas to otherwise undocumented laborers which would have granted limited residency for the purpose of employment in the U.S.[95]
In 2003, Cato filed an
amicus brief in support of the Supreme Court's decision in Lawrence v. Texas, which struck down the remaining state laws that made private, non-commercial homosexual relations between consenting adults illegal. Cato cited the
14th Amendment, among other things, as the source of their support for the ruling. The amicus brief was cited in Justice Kennedy's majority opinion for the Court.[97]
In 2006, Cato published a Policy Analysis criticising the
Federal Marriage Amendment as unnecessary, anti-federalist, and anti-democratic.[98] The amendment would have changed the United States Constitution to prohibit
same-sex marriage; the amendment failed in both houses of Congress.
A 2006 Cato report by
Radley Balko strongly criticized U.S. drug policy and the perceived growing militarization of U.S. law enforcement.[99]
Criticism of corporate welfare
In 2004, the institute published a paper arguing in favor of "drug reimportation".[100] Cato has published numerous studies criticizing what it calls "
corporate welfare", the practice of public officials funneling taxpayer money, usually via targeted budgetary spending, to politically connected corporate interests.[101][102][103][104]
Cato president Ed Crane and
Sierra Club executive director
Carl Pope co-wrote a 2002
op-ed piece in The Washington Post calling for the abandonment of the Republican energy bill, arguing that it had become little more than a gravy train for Washington, D.C., lobbyists.[105] Again in 2005, Cato scholar Jerry Taylor teamed up with Daniel Becker of the Sierra Club to attack the Republican
Energy Bill as a give-away to corporate interests.[106]
Ted Galen Carpenter, Cato's vice president for defense and foreign policy studies, criticized many of the arguments offered to justify the 2003 invasion of Iraq. One of the war's earliest critics, Carpenter wrote in January 2002: "Ousting Saddam would make Washington responsible for Iraq's political future and entangle the United States in an endless nation-building mission beset by intractable problems."[111] Carpenter also predicted: "Most notably there is the issue posed by two persistent regional secession movements: the Kurds in the north and the Shiites in the south."[111] But in 2002 Carpenter wrote, "the United States should not shrink from confronting al-Qaeda in its Pakistani lair,"[112] a position echoed in the institute's policy recommendations for the 108th Congress.[113] Cato's director of foreign policy studies, Christopher Preble, argues in The Power Problem: How American Military Dominance Makes Us Less Safe, Less Prosperous, and Less Free, that America's position as an unrivaled superpower tempts policymakers to constantly overreach and to redefine ever more broadly the "national interest".[114]
Christopher Preble has said that the "scare campaign" to protect military spending from cuts under the
Budget Control Act of 2011 has backfired.[115]
Cato's foreign and defense policies are guided by the view that the United States is relatively secure and so should engage the world, trade freely, and work with other countries on common concerns—but avoid trying to dominate it militarily. As a result, Cato advocates the United States should be an example of democracy and human rights, not their armed vindicator abroad, claiming it has a rich history, from
George Washington to
Cold War realists like
George Kennan. Cato scholars aim to restore this view, with a principled and restrained foreign policy recommendation, to keep the nation out of most foreign conflicts and be cheaper, more ethical, and less destructive of civil liberties.[116]
Global freedom
Cato's scholars seek to advance policies and support institutions in developing and developed countries that protect human rights and extend the range of personal choices. In particular, Cato's research explores the central role that freedom in its various dimensions—economic, civil, and personal—plays in human progress and in solving some of the world's most pressing problems, including global poverty. To this end Cato co-publishes the annual Human Freedom Index (2015–)[26] with the
Fraser Institute and is the co-publisher with Fraser of the U.S. edition of the Economic Freedom of the World annual report (1996–).[27]
Immigration
Cato argues that most Americans are immigrants or descended from immigrants who sought opportunity and freedom on American shores, and they believe that this continues today with immigrants continuing to become Americans, making the United States a wealthier, freer, and safer country. Cato's research indicates that the current US immigration system excludes the most peaceful and healthy immigrants, and urges policymakers to expand and deregulate legal immigration.[117] Further, Cato supports
open borders.[118]
Trade policy
Cato advocates that policymakers must be constantly reminded of the benefits of free trade and the costs of protectionism, arguing free trade is the extension of free markets across political borders. It promotes the idea that enlarging markets to integrate more buyers, sellers, investors, and workers enables more refined specialization and economies of scale, which produce more wealth and higher living standards, and argues that Protectionism does the opposite. Cato's policy recommendations focus on congress and the administration pursuing policies that expand the freedom of Americans to participate in the international marketplace.[119]
On environmental policy
Cato scholars have written about the issues of the environment, including global warming, environmental regulation, and energy policy. According to social scientists Riley Dunlap and Aaron McCright the Cato Institute is one of the "particularly crucial elements of the denial machine", that
rejects global warming.[120]
Cato scholars have been critical of the Bush administration's views on energy policy. In 2003, Cato scholars Jerry Taylor and Peter Van Doren said the Republican Energy Bill was "hundreds of pages of corporate welfare, symbolic gestures, empty promises, and pork-barrel projects".[125] They also spoke out against the former president's calls for larger ethanol subsidies.[126]
With regard to the
"Takings Clause" of the United States Constitution and environmental protection, libertarians associated with Cato contended in 2003 that the Constitution is not adequate to guarantee the protection of private property rights.[127]
In 2019, Cato closed its "Center for the Study of Science" (which
E&E News characterized as "a program that for years sought to raise uncertainty about climate science") after its head Pat Michaels had left the institute over disagreements, along with his collaborator Ryan Maue, a meteorologist.[128] By that time, the Cato Institute was also no longer affiliated with its former distinguished fellow
Richard Lindzen, another
denier of the
scientific consensus on climate change.[128]
Other commentaries on presidential administrations
Cato opposed
Executive Order 13769, which was enacted in January 2017, which decreased the number of refugees admitted into the United States and suspended entry to individuals whose countries do not meet adjudication standards under U.S. immigration law.[143]
Funding, tax status, and corporate structure
The Cato Institute is classified as a
501(c)(3) organization under the U.S.
Internal Revenue Code. For revenue, the institute is largely dependent on private contributions and does not receive government funding.[144] The Cato Institute reported the fiscal year 2015 revenue of $37.3 million and expenses of $29.4 million.[145] According to the organization's annual report, $32.1 million came from individual donors, $2.9 million came from foundations, $1.2 million came from program revenue and other income, and $1 million came from corporations.[145]
Operating
revenue as of FYE March 2020: $31,695,000
Individual (75%)
Foundation (20%)
Corporate (3%)
Program and Other Income (2%)
Operating
expenses as of FYE March 2020: $31,726,000
Program (81%)
Management & General (12%)
Development (7%)
Net assets as of FYE March 2020: $81,391,000.
Shareholder dispute and departure of Ed Crane
In 2011, there were four shareholders of the Cato Institute:
Charles and
David Koch, Ed Crane,[148] and
William A. Niskanen. Niskanen died in October 2011.[149] In March 2012, a dispute broke out over the ownership of Niskanen's shares.[148][149] Charles and David Koch filed suit in Kansas, seeking to void his shareholder seat. The Kochs argued that Niskanen's shares should first be offered to the board of the institute, and then to the remaining shareholders,[150] while Crane contended that Niskanen's shares belonged to his widow, Kathryn Washburn, and that the move by the Kochs was an attempt to turn Cato into "some sort of auxiliary for the G.O.P ... It's detrimental to Cato, it's detrimental to Koch Industries, it's detrimental to the libertarian movement."[66] Those who supported Cato's existing management rallied around the "Save Cato" banner,[151] while those who supported the Koch brothers, called "For a Better Cato".[152]
In 2018, several former Cato employees alleged longtime
sexual harassment by Crane, going back to the 1990s and continuing until his departure in 2012. Politico reported that he settled one such claim in 2012. Crane denied the allegations.[156]
Prizes
Recipients of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences at Cato
Since 2002, the Cato Institute has awarded the Milton Friedman Prize for Advancing Liberty every two years to "an individual who has made a significant contribution to advancing human freedom."[159] The prize comes with a cash award of US$250,000.[160]
The Cato Institute is an associate member of the
State Policy Network, a U.S. national network of free-market oriented think tanks.[172][173]
Rankings
According to the 2020 Global Go To Think Tank Index Report (
Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program,
University of Pennsylvania), Cato is number 27 in the "Top Think Tanks Worldwide" and number 13 in the "Top Think Tanks in the United States".[8] Other "Top Think Tank" rankings include # 13 (of 85) in Defense and National Security, #5 (of 80) in Domestic Economic Policy, #4 (of 55) in Education Policy, #17 (of 85) in Foreign Policy and International Affairs, #8 (of 30) in Domestic Health Policy, #14 (of 25) in Global Health Policy, #18 (of 80) in International Development, #14 (of 50) in International Economic Policy, #8 (of 50) in Social Policy, #8 (of 75) for Best Advocacy Campaign, #17 (of 60) for Best Think Tank Network, #3 (of 60) for best Use of Social Networks, #9 (of 50) for Best External Relations/Public Engagement Program, #2 (of 40) for Best Use of the Internet, #12 (of 40) for Best Use of Media, #5 (of 30) for Most Innovative Policy Ideas/Proposals, #11 (of 70) for the Most Significant Impact on Public Policy, and #9 (of 60) for Outstanding Policy-Oriented Public Programs. Cato also topped the 2014 list of the budget-adjusted ranking of international development think tanks.[174]
^Koch Industries is the second largest privately held company by revenue in the United States.
"Forbes List". Forbes.
Archived from the original on November 7, 2010. Retrieved November 13, 2011.
^The essays, named after
Cato the Younger, the defender of republican institutions in
Rome, expounded on the political views of philosopher
John Locke, that had a strong influence on the
American Revolution's intellectual environment. See: Mitchell, Annie (July 2004). "A Liberal Republican "Cato"". American Journal of Political Science. 48 (3): 588–603.
doi:
10.1111/j.0092-5853.2004.00089.x.
^Rossiter, Clinton (1953). Seedtime of the Republic: the origin of the American tradition of political liberty. New York: Harcourt, Brace. pp.
141. No one can spend any time the newspapers, library inventories, and pamphlets of colonial America without realizing that Cato's Letters rather than John Locke's Civil Government was the most popular, quotable, esteemed source for political ideas in the colonial period.
^Jones, Caleb.
"Bernanke". AP Images. Archived from
the original on June 10, 2014. Retrieved August 18, 2013. Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke speaks at the Cato Institute's annual Monetary Conference...
^"Brink Lindsey". Cato Institute.
Archived from the original on February 6, 2020. Retrieved February 6, 2020.
^Lindsey, Brink (January 2003).
"Should We Invade Iraq?". Reason Magazine (January 2003). Reason Magazine.
Archived from the original on April 7, 2019. Retrieved July 5, 2012.
^Pope, Carl; Crane, Ed (July 30, 2002).
"Fueled by Pork". The Washington Post. p. A.17.
Archived from the original on March 17, 2017. Retrieved August 21, 2013.(subscription required).
Cato's linkArchived November 16, 2007, at the
Wayback Machine
^Taylor, Jerry; Becker, Daniel (July 30, 2005).
"Energy Bill Blues". Cato Institute.
Archived from the original on May 25, 2021. Retrieved May 25, 2021.
^Carpenter, Ted Galen.
"Take the War on Terrorism to Pakistan". Cato Institute. Archived from the original on June 1, 2002. Retrieved November 9, 2017.{{
cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (
link)
^Peña, Charles V.
"Waging an Effective War"(PDF). Cato Handbook for Congress: Policy Recommendations for the 108th Congress. p. 53.
Archived(PDF) from the original on April 12, 2019. Retrieved November 9, 2017.
^Riley E. Dunlap, Aaron M. McCright: Organized Climate Change Denial, in: John S. Dryzek, Richard B. Norgaard, David Schlosberg (Eds.). The Oxford Handbook of Climate Change and Society. Oxford University Press 2011, p. 144–160, here p. 149
^Cato was criticized for publishing an alleged misleading Addendum: Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States. See: Fischer, Douglas; The Daily Climate (October 22, 2012).
"Fake Addendum by Contrarian Group Tries to Undo U.S. Government Climate Report". Scientific American.
Archived from the original on March 6, 2018. Retrieved February 5, 2018.
^
abMichaels, Patrick J.
"Global Warming"(PDF). Cato Handbook for Congress: Policy Recommendations for the 108th Congress. p. 474. Archived from
the original(PDF) on April 6, 2012. Retrieved July 4, 2012.
^Ronall, Joachim O.; Saxena, Rohan; Beloff, Ruth (2007).
"Friedman, Milton". Encyclopaedia Judica (2nd ed.). Thomson Gale. Archived from
the original on March 29, 2015. Retrieved August 18, 2013.