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Begin New Search Topic Government Content Type Policy Brief Publishing Institution The Cato Institute

21. What Can the United States Learn from the Nordic Model?

Author:
Daniel Mitchell
Publication Date:
11-2007
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
Some policymakers in the United States and Europe argue that it is possible to enjoy economic growth and also have a large welfare state. These advocates for bigger government claim that the so- called Nordic Model offers the best of both worlds. This claim does not withstand scrutiny. Economic performance in Nordic nations is lagging, and excessive government is the most likely explanation. The public sector in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, and Iceland consumes, on average, more than 48 percent of economic output. Total government outlays in the United States, by contrast, are less than 37 percent of gross domes- tic product. Revenue comparisons are even more striking. Tax receipts average more than 45 per- cent of GDP in Nordic nations, a full 20 percent- age points higher than the aggregate tax burden in the United States.
Topic:
Economics and Government
Political Geography:
United States and Europe

22. Responding to the Threat of Smallpox Bioterrorism: An Ounce of Prevention Is Best Approach

Author:
Veronique de Rugy and Charles V. Peña
Publication Date:
04-2002
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
The threat of direct terrorist attack against the United States proved to be real. And the subsequent anthrax cases point to the possibility of a future bioterrorist attack, including use of the deadly smallpox virus. The nature of terrorism is such that it is impossible to accurately predict the probability of such an attack, but the potential consequences are catastrophic. Therefore, it is a serious threat that deserves serious attention.
Topic:
Foreign Policy and Government
Political Geography:
United States and Europe

23. Fighting the War against Terrorism: Elite Forces, Yes; Conscripts, No

Author:
Doug Bandow
Publication Date:
04-2002
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
The United States possesses the most powerful military on earth, one that has proved its potency in ousting the Taliban from power in Afghanistan. Yet, even as the military was gearing up to perform so well, some people were calling for a return to conscription or, more dramatically, for institution of mandatory national service for all young people.
Topic:
Foreign Policy and Government
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, United States, Europe, and Taliban

24. Old Folly in a New Disguise

Author:
Gary T. Dempsey
Publication Date:
03-2002
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
Since September 11, 2001, there have been calls from various quarters to embrace nation building as a tool for combating terrorism. The logic behind the idea is that “good” states do not do “bad” things, so Washington should build more “good” states. That idea, however, relies on several dubious assumptions—for example, that embarking on multiple nation-building missions will reduce the potential for anti-American terrorism. If anything, nation building is likely to create more incentives, targets, and opportunities for terrorism, not fewer. The nation-building idea also draws on false analogies with the past. For example, some people assert that Europe's experience under the Marshall Plan can be readily duplicated in a whole host of countries and that, with enough economic aid, trained bureaucrats, and military force of arms, “bad” states anywhere can be transformed into open, self-sustaining, peaceful states.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Government, and Terrorism
Political Geography:
United States, America, Europe, and Washington

25. Making the World Safer for Incumbents: The Consequences of McCain-Feingold-Cochran

Author:
John Samples
Publication Date:
03-2001
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Russell Feingold (D-Wis.), joined by Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), have introduced legislation adding new regulations on campaign finance. Their proposed law bans “soft money” going to political parties, restricts advertising by for-profit corporations and labor unions, and greatly increases the ambit of federal election law.
Topic:
Government and Politics
Political Geography:
United States

26. Toward Market Education: Are Vouchers or Tax Credits the Better Path?

Author:
Andrew J. Coulson
Publication Date:
02-2001
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
Education markets have consistently done a better job than state monopolies of serving both our individual needs and our communal goals. Yet all market-inspired education reforms are not intrinsically or uniformly effective. They can succeed only to the extent that they support the conditions for a thriving education market and ensure that all families have access to that market.
Topic:
Education and Government

27. Fiscal Policy Report Card on America's Governors: 2000

Author:
Stephen Moore and Stephen Slivinski
Publication Date:
02-2001
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
This report presents the findings of the Cato Institute's fifth biennial fiscal policy report card on the nation's governors. The grading mechanism is based on purely objective measures of each governor's fiscal performance. Those governors with the most fiscally conservative records— the tax and budget cutters—receive the highest grades. Those who have increased spending and taxes the most receive the lowest grades.
Topic:
Government
Political Geography:
United States and America

28. "Big Oil" at the Public Trough? An Examination of Petroleum Subsidies

Author:
Ronald J. Sutherland
Publication Date:
02-2001
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
Critics of the oil industry allege that the industry receives large and unwarranted government subsidies and that rival technologies, such as those for ethanol, renewable energy, and energy efficiency, deserve compensating government preferences. The evidence indicates that, on balance, the oil industry is not a net beneficiary of government subsidies. The facts point in the opposite direction. The oil industry is more harmed than helped by government intervention in energy markets.
Topic:
Environment, Government, and Industrial Policy
Political Geography:
United States

29. Arrogance of Power Reborn: The Imperial Presidency and Foreign Policy in the Clinton Years

Author:
Gene Healy
Publication Date:
10-2000
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
In his classic 1973 book The Imperial Presidency, historian Arthur Schlesinger Jr. warned that the American political system was threatened by “a conception of presidential power so spacious and peremptory as to imply a radical transformation of the traditional polity.” America's rise to global dominance and Cold War leadership, Schlesinger explained, had dangerously concentrated power in the presidency, transforming the Framers' energetic but constitutionally constrained chief executive into a sort of elected emperor with virtually unchecked authority in the international arena.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Defense Policy, and Government
Political Geography:
United States and America

30. Microsoft's Appealing Case

Author:
Alan Reynolds and Robert A. Levy
Publication Date:
11-2000
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson's final judgment in the Microsoft case indicates that he has fallen hook, line, and sinker for the government's flawed arguments. But the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit is unlikely to be so accommodating. The Justice Department's case will crumble as a result of procedural errors, flawed fact-finding, wrongheaded legal conclusions, and Jackson's preposterous plan to break up the software company most directly responsible for America's high-tech revolution.
Topic:
Government, Industrial Policy, and Science and Technology
Political Geography:
United States and America