Everything about The Cato Institute totally explained
The
Cato Institute is a
libertarian think tank headquartered in
Washington, D.C.
The Institute's stated mission is "to broaden the parameters of
public policy debate to allow consideration of the traditional
American principles of limited
government, individual
liberty,
free markets, and
peace" by striving "to achieve greater involvement of the intelligent, lay public in questions of (public) policy and the proper role of government." Cato scholars have been sharply critical of the Bush administration on a wide variety of issues, including the
Iraq war, civil liberties, education, health care, agriculture, energy policy, and excessive
government spending. However, some Cato scholars have found common cause with the administration on other issues, most notably, on
Social Security,
global warming, tax policy, and
immigration.
History
The Institute was founded in
San Francisco, California in 1977 by
Edward H. Crane and initially funded by
Charles G. Koch. The Institute is named after
Cato's Letters, a series of British essays penned in the early
18th century by
John Trenchard and
Thomas Gordon expounding the political views of philosopher
John Locke. The essays were named after
Cato the Younger, the defender of republican institutions in
Rome. Libertarian
Murray Rothbard was a founding member of the institute's board and is credited with suggesting the name. He later came into sharp disagreement with other members, resulting in his dismissal in 1981. Cato relocated to Washington, D.C. in 1981, settling first in a townhouse on
Capitol Hill. The Institute moved to its current location on
Massachusetts Avenue in 1993.
In November 2002, shortly after Cato's website was named the "Best Advocacy Website" by the Web Marketing Association, the
Alexa ratings service issued a report saying that it was "the most popular think tank site over the past three months," receiving a total of 188,901 unique visitors during the previous month of September.
Publications
The Cato Institute publishes the periodicals
Cato's Letter
,
Cato Journal,
Regulation,
Cato Supreme Court Review, and
Cato Policy Report, as well as
policy studies. Some of Cato's books include
Social Security: The Inherent Contradiction,
In Defense of Global Capitalism,
Voucher Wars,
You Can't Say That!: The Growing Threat to Civil Liberties from Antidiscrimination Laws,
Peace and Freedom: A Foreign Policy for a Constitutional Republic,
Restoring the Lost Constitution, and
Reclaiming the Mainstream: Individualist Feminism Reconsidered.
Cato published
Inquiry Magazine from 1977 to 1982 (before transferring it to the
Libertarian Review Foundation), and
Literature of Liberty from 1978 to 1979 (before transferring it to the
Institute for Humane Studies, where it was ended in 1982). They also had a
monograph series called "Cato Papers".
Principles
The Cato Institute's work is rooted in the classical liberal tradition of
John Locke and
Adam Smith. Cato scholars base their work on a variety of philosophical and religious perspectives. Three Nobel Laureates have been particularly influential to the Cato Institute's work.
Milton Friedman first proposed the concept of
school choice, which is now promoted by Cato's Center for Educational Freedom. He also was an influential advocate for a number of policy proposals supported by Cato scholars, including
monetarism and the end of the draft and the drug war.
F.A. Hayek's ideas about spontaneous order and the importance of the price mechanism have been fundamental to Cato scholars' work on a wide variety of topics. And
James M. Buchanan's work in
public choice economics have been fundamental to Cato scholars' critiques of many government programs.
Many strands of thought have influenced the work of various Cato scholars. For example, a
2005 pamphlet by Dan Griswold, Cato's director of trade policy studies, made the case for individual liberty from a Christian perspective. Cato policy analyst Will Wilkinson has argued that the case for liberty can best be made by combining key insights of
Friedrich Hayek and
John Rawls, a political philosopher whose
egalitarian ideas are often thought of as antithetical to libertarianism.
Ayn Rand's philosophy of
Objectivism has also had a particularly strong influence on the Cato Institute. Objectivists share with other libertarians a respect for individual liberty, free markets, and limited government. In
1997 David Boaz, Cato's executive VP, wrote he believed all
Objectivists are necessarily
libertarians.
Strained relationship with conservatism
In the years immediately following the
Republican Revolution, the Cato Institute was often seen as a standard-bearer of the U.S. conservative political movement.
Barry Goldwater and
Ronald Reagan, credited with reshaping and rejuvenating the
Republican Party, and key contributors to the late-20th century conservative movement, were heavily influenced by libertarian ideals.
Despite this, 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". Such tensions have become increasingly evident in recent years, as the Institute has become sharply critical of current Republican leaders. The growing division may be attributable to Republican officeholders' growing support of policies promoting government intervention in the economy and society, increased budgetary spending, and
neoconservative foreign policies.
Cato scholars have also been strongly critical of the expansion of executive power under President
George W. Bush, and his management of the
Iraq War. In 2006 and 2007, Cato published two books critical of the Republican Party's perceived abandonment of the limited-government ideals that swept them into power in 1994. For their part, only a minority of Republican congressmen supported President
George W. Bush’s
2005 proposal to partially privatize
Social Security, an idea strongly backed by the Institute. And in the
109th Congress, President Bush's immigration plan—which was based on a proposal by Cato scholar Dan Griswold — went down to defeat largely due to the eventual opposition of conservative Republican congressmen.
Cato President
Ed Crane has particular scorn for
neoconservatism. In a 2003 article with Cato chairman
William Niskanen, he called neoconservatism a "particular threat to liberty perhaps greater than the ideologically spent ideas of left-liberalism." As far back as 1995, Crane wrote that neoconservatives "have a fundamentally benign view of the state," which Crane considers antithetical to libertarian ideals of individual freedom. Cato's foreign policy team have frequently criticized neoconservative foreign policy.
Outreach to progressives
Cato has long sought to build bridges between libertarians and
progressives based on their shared values of tolerance, equality, and individual liberty. Cato's scholars advocate positions that are appealing to many on the left-hand side of the American political spectrum, including support for civil liberties, liberal immigration policies, equal rights for gays and lesbians, and peace. An early example of this effort was the launching of
Inquiry Magazine, which was aimed at
liberals who shared libertarians' skepticism about concentrated state power. More recently, in 2006, Cato vice president for research Brink Lindsey penned an article arguing that libertarians and
liberals should view each other as natural ideological allies. Cato describes this "bridge philosophy" as Jeffersonian:
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.
Tensions with Objectivism
Ayn Rand scorned the nascent libertarian movement during her lifetime, and her intellectual heir,
Leonard Peikoff, has followed her lead, refusing to associate with libertarian organizations, Cato included. Other Objectivist organizations, notably the
Atlas Society, have been more friendly. At an October 2007 event to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of
Atlas Shrugged, Cato President and Founder
Ed Crane stated that he and all the senior leadership of the Cato Institute consider themselves Objectivists. He emphasized that Objectivists and other libertarians are natural allies, and encouraged Objectivists to become more involved in the broader libertarian movement. Cato Institute leaders have worked for years to improve relations between
Objectivists and
libertarians.
Cato positions on current political issues
Following its motto, the Cato Institute advocates policies that advance "individual liberty, limited government, free markets, and peace.” Cato scholars are libertarian in their policy positions, typically advocating diminished government intervention in domestic, social, and economic policies and decreased military and political intervention worldwide. Specific policy proposals advanced by Cato scholars include such measures as abolishing the minimum wage, reforming illegal-drug policies, eliminating corporate welfare and
trade barriers, diminishing federal government involvement in the marketplace and in local and state issues, enhanced school choice, abolishing government-enforced discrimination, including both traditionally conservative racial profiling and traditionally liberal affirmative action, and abolishing restrictions on discrimination by private parties.
On Social Security
The Cato Institute established its Project on Social Security Privatization in 1995, renaming it the Project on Social Security Choice in 2002. The change sought to emphasize that its proposals would allow Americans to opt in or out of the program. Like other organizations supporting the "personal healthcare savings accounts" concept, Cato scholars now avoid using the word
privatization in describing such policies, due to the presently unpopular sentiments that the public associates with it.
Cato's Social Security proposal involves giving workers the option of investing half of their contributions (6.2 per cent) into individual accounts, in return for forgoing the accrual of any future Social Security entitlement benefits. For workers selecting this option, future claims on already-accrued Social Security benefits could be sold as bonds, allowing the workers to re-invest those funds in higher-yielding securities, if desired. However, for these workers, past and future payroll tax contributions to Social Security, nominally made on behalf of the employer, would go to funding the Social Security benefits of people remaining in the traditional system.
Cato scholars have emphasized that the present Social Security system is unsustainable, and will necessitate future tax hikes and benefit cuts to make ends meet. Because of the "pay as you go" nature of the system, present workers are taxed to support past ones (for example, current retirees). As the ratio of workers-to-retirees drops, workers will bear an increasing payroll-tax burden. Cato scholars also emphasize the benefits of inheritability. Unlike the status quo, Cato's plan would allow a worker who dies before reaching their (variable) retirement age to leave the assets in his/her personal account to legal heirs.
In 2003, the Cato Institute said that Bush's social security privatization plan could be funded if funding for
corporate welfare were reduced.
On foreign policy and civil liberties
In recent years, Cato's non-interventionist foreign policy views, and strong support for civil liberties, have frequently led Cato scholars to criticize those in power, Republican and Democrat. Cato scholars opposed President
George H. W. Bush's 1991
Gulf War operations, President
Bill Clinton's interventions in
Haiti and
Kosovo, and President
George W. Bush's
2003 invasion of Iraq. On the other hand, Cato scholars supported the
2001 invasion of Afghanistan as a response to the
terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
Cato policy experts have been similarly critical of recent perceived infringements upon American's civil liberties. They sharply criticized then-Attorney General
Janet Reno's 1993
raid of the Branch Davidians in Waco, Texas. More recently, they've opposed the
USA Patriot Act, the imprisonment of so-called
unlawful enemy combatants like
José Padilla, and the second Bush Administration's aggressive assertions of unilateral executive authority.
On other domestic issues
Cato has published strong criticisms of the 1998 settlement that many U.S. states signed with the
tobacco industry. Among other
laissez-faire policies, Cato scholars have argued for allowing immigrants to work in the U.S.
The Cato Institute argued in favor of a
Balanced Budget Veto Amendment to the
United States Constitution. This would, according to the Institute, act as a self-enforcing mechanism to reduce
deficit spending by the U.S. government.
In 2003 Cato filed an
amicus brief in support of the Supreme Court’s decision in
Lawrence v. Texas, which struck down the few 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.
Domestically, Cato scholars have been sharp critics of current U.S. drug policy, Additionally, there's a strong objection to "nanny" laws such as smoking bans and mandatory seatbelt use.
On environmental policy
Cato scholars have written extensively about the issues of the environment, including
global warming, environmental regulation, and energy policy. As of January
2008, the Cato Institute lists "Energy and the Environment" as one of its 13 major "research issues", and
global warming is one of six sub-topics under this heading. The Institute has issued over two dozen studies on energy and environmental topics in recent years, which is on par with Cato's other research areas. A browse of its blog reveals many postings on a wide variety of public policy issues, including global warming and other environmental issues.
The Institute's work on global warming has been a particular source of controversy. The Institute has held a number of briefings on
global warming with
global warming skeptics as panelists. In December 2003, panelists included
Patrick Michaels,
Robert Balling and
John Christy. Balling and Christy have since made statements indicating that global warming is, in fact, related at least some degree to anthropogenic activity:
In response to the
World Watch Report in May
2003 that linked climate change and severe weather events,
Jerry Taylor said:
Four out of five "Doubters of Global Warming" interviewed recently by
PBS's
Frontline were funded by, or had some other institutional connection with, the Institute.
Out of more than four dozen chapters, the Cato Handbook for Congress has three chapters on environmental issues, one of which is on global warming. Cato has often criticized
Al Gore's stances on the issue of global warming and agreed with the
Bush administration's skeptical attitude toward the Kyoto protocols. Its positions on the subject are unpopular with some left-of-center groups.
On the other hand, Cato scholars have been critical of the Bush administration's views on energy policy. In 2003, Cato scholars Jerry Taylor and Peter Van Doren blasted the Republican Energy Bill as "Hundreds of pages of corporate welfare, symbolic gestures, empty promises, and pork-barrel projects." They have also spoken out against the president's calls for larger ethanol subsidies.
Funding
The Cato Institute is classified as a
501(c)(3) organization under U.S. Internal Revenue Code. The institute performs no contract research and doesn't accept government funding. For revenue, the institute is largely dependent on private contributions.
According to its annual report, the Cato Institute had fiscal year 2007 expenses of $19.4 million and revenue of $20.4 million. The report notes that 74% of Cato's income that year came from individual contributions, 15% from foundations, 3% from corporations, and 8% from "program and other income" (for example, publication sales, program fees).
Foundation support
The Cato Institute has been supported by:
Corporate support
Like many
think tanks, Cato receives support from a variety of corporations, but corporations are a relatively minor source of support for the Institute. In fiscal year 2007, for example, corporate donations accounted for only three percent of its budget. A 2006 study attacked the
Digital Millennium Copyright Act. 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. For example, in 2002, Cato president Ed Crane and
Sierra Club executive director Carl Pope co-wrote an
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. 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.
Still, some critics have accused Cato of being too tied to corporate funders, especially in the 1990s. Critical sources report that Cato received funding from
Phillip Morris and other tobacco companies in the 1990s, and that at one point
Rupert Murdoch served on the boards of directors of both Cato and
Phillip Morris. The
Knight Ridder newspapers reported that in the late 1990s Cato received financial contributions from the
American International Group, "an insurance and financial services company whose business includes managing U.S. retirement plans" as Social Security reform emerged as a more prominent issue. Between 1998 and 2004 the Cato Institute received $90,000 of its funding from
ExxonMobil — about a tenth of a percent of the organization's budget over that period.
Associates in the news
Several Cato Institute-affiliated scholars have achieved academic distinction, including Nobel laureates F. A. Hayek, Milton Friedman. James M. Buchanan, and Vernon L. Smith.
Cato senior fellow Randy Barnett argued the Gonzales v. Raich case in front of the Supreme Court in 2004.
Mencken Fellow P. J. O'Rourke is the bestselling author of Parliament of Whores, All the Trouble in the World, and other books.
Cato policy analyst Radley Balko was cited by Justice Breyer's dissent to the Supreme Court's 2006 Hudson v. Michigan decision, concerning "no knock" raids.
Cato senior fellow Robert A. Levy personally funded the plaintiffs' challenge to the District of Columbia's gun ban in an important Second Amendment case that will be heard by the Supreme Court in early 2008.
In December 2005, Doug Bandow, a Cato fellow, admitted taking money from lobbyist Jack Abramoff in exchange for writing columns for the Copley News Service favorable to Abramoff clients. The columns did not, however, deviate from Bandow's own views. Copley suspended his column. Bandow subsequently resigned from Cato on December 15, 2005.
In 1999, David Platt Rall, a prominent environmental scientist, died in a car accident. Steven Milloy, at the time a Cato adjunct scholar, celebrated Rall's death on his site junkscience.com, writing: "Scratch one junk scientist who promoted the bankrupt idea that poisoning rats with a chemical predicts cancer in humans exposed to much lower levels of the chemical — a notion that, at the very least, has wasted billions and billions of public and private dollars." Cato Institute President Edward Crane called Milloy's attack an "inexcusable lapse in judgement and civility," but Milloy refused to apologize. He retained his position with Cato until the end of 2005. Following renewed controversy over the financial support Milloy received from tobacco and oil companies while writing editorial pieces favorable to them, Milloy's name was removed from the list of Cato adjunct scholars.
In January 2008, adjunct scholar Dominick Armentano separated from the Institute after writing an op-ed piece in the Vero Beach Press-Journal. Cato Executive Vice President David Boaz wrote that “I won’t deny that this latest op-ed played a role in our decision."
Milton Friedman Prize
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." The prize comes with a cash award of $500,000.
Notable associates
Policy scholars
David Boaz, Executive Vice President
Edward H. Crane, President and CEO
Jagadeesh Gokhale, Senior Fellow
Daniel T. Griswold, Director, Center for Trade Policy Studies
Andrey Illarionov
Brink Lindsey, Vice President for Research
William A. Niskanen, Chairman
Tom G. Palmer, Senior Fellow, Director of Cato University
Roger Pilon, Vice President for Legal Affairs
José Piñera, Co-chairman, Project on Social Security Choice
Alan Reynolds, Senior Fellow
John Samples, Director, Center for Representative Government
Jerry Taylor. Senior Fellow
Ian Vásquez, Director of the Center for Global Liberty and Prosperity
Will Wilkinson, Policy Analyst
Adjunct scholars
Donald J. Boudreaux
Robert L. Bradley, Jr
Tyler Cowen
Michael Cox
Richard Epstein
Michael Gough
Tibor Machan
Randal O'Toole
Vernon L. Smith
Thomas Szasz
Fellows
Randy E. Barnett
James Bovard
James M. Buchanan
Leon Hadar
Steve H. Hanke
F. A. Hayek
Andrei Illarionov
Penn Jillette
David Kopel
Johan Norberg
P. J. O'Rourke
Jim Powell
Teller
Board of directors
As of January 2007:
K. Tucker Andersen, Senior consultant, Cumberland Associates LLC
Frank Bond, Chairman, The Foundation Group
Edward H. Crane, President, Cato Institute
Richard Dennis, President, Dennis Trading Group
Ethelmae C. Humphreys, Chair, Tamko Roofing Products, Inc.
David H. Koch, Executive vice-president, Koch Industries, Inc.
John C. Malone, Chairman, Liberty Media Corporation
William A. Niskanen, Chairman, Cato Institute
David H. Padden, President, Padden and Company
Lewis E. Randall, Board member, E-Trade Financial Corporation
Howard Rich, President, U.S. Term Limits
Frederick W. Smith, Chairman and CEO, FedEx Corporation
Donald G. Smith, President, Donald Smith & Co.
Jeffrey S. Yass, Managing Director, Susquehana International Group, LLP
Fred Young, former owner, Young Radiator Company
Former staff and faculty
Radley Balko, former Policy Analyst
Doug Bandow, former Senior Fellow
Dan Greenberg (Director of Communications), currently an Arkansas state legislator and thus a member of the Arkansas General Assembly
Steven Milloy (adjunct scholar), columnist for Fox News
Julian Sanchez, former staff writer, currently contributing editor to Reason magazine.Further Information
Get more info on 'The Cato Institute'.
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