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2. Herbert Hoover: Father of the New Deal
- Author:
- Steven Horwitz
- Publication Date:
- 09-2011
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Cato Institute
- Abstract:
- Politicians and pundits portray Herbert Hoover as a defender of laissez faire governance whose dogmatic commitment to small government led him to stand by and do nothing while the economy collapsed in the wake of the stock market crash in 1929. In fact, Hoover had long been a critic of laissez faire. As president, he doubled federal spending in real terms in four years. He also used government to prop up wages, restricted immigration, signed the Smoot-Hawley tariff, raised taxes, and created the Reconstruction Finance Corporation-all interventionist measures and not laissez faire. Unlike many Democrats today, President Franklin D. Roosevelt's advisers knew that Hoover had started the New Deal. One of them wrote, "When we all burst into Washington ... we found every essential idea [of the New Deal] enacted in the 100-day Congress in the Hoover administration itself."
- Topic:
- Economics, Markets, Political Economy, Financial Crisis, and Governance
- Political Geography:
- United States and Washington
3. Publication Practices for Transparent Government
- Author:
- Jim Harper
- Publication Date:
- 09-2011
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Cato Institute
- Abstract:
- Government transparency is a widely agreed upon goal, but progress on achieving it has been very limited. Transparency promises from political leaders such as President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner have not produced a burst of information that informs stronger public oversight of government. One reason for this is the absence of specifically prescribed data practices that will foster transparency.
- Topic:
- Democratization, Political Economy, Politics, Communications, and Governance
- Political Geography:
- United States
4. Fannie, Freddie, and the Subprime Mortgage Market
- Author:
- Mark A. Calabria
- Publication Date:
- 03-2011
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Cato Institute
- Abstract:
- The recent financial crisis was characterized by losses in nearly every type of investment vehicle. Yet no product has attracted as much attention as the subprime mortgage.
- Topic:
- Economics, Government, Markets, and Financial Crisis
- Political Geography:
- United States
5. The Case for Auditing the Fed Is Obvious
- Author:
- Arnold Kling
- Publication Date:
- 04-2010
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Cato Institute
- Abstract:
- Recently, the Federal Reserve has significantly altered the procedures and goals that it had followed for decades. It has more than doubled its balance sheet, paid interest to banks on reserves held as deposits with the Fed, made decisions about which institutions to prop up and which should be allowed to fail, invested in assets that expose taxpayers to large losses, and raised questions about how it will avoid inflation despite an unprecedented increase in the monetary base.
- Topic:
- Economics, Government, Political Economy, Politics, and Financial Crisis
- Political Geography:
- United States
6. Does the Doctor Need a Boss?
- Author:
- Michael F. Cannon and Arnold Kling
- Publication Date:
- 01-2009
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Cato Institute
- Abstract:
- The traditional model of medical delivery, in which the doctor is trained, respected, and compensated as an independent craftsman, is anachronistic. When a patient has multiple ailments, there is no longer a simple doctor patient or doctor-patient-specialist relationship. Instead, there are multiple specialists who have an impact on the patient, each with a set of interdependencies and difficult coordination issues that increase exponentially with the number of ailments involved.
- Topic:
- Economics, Health, and Human Welfare
- Political Geography:
- United States
7. Massachusetts Miracle or Massachusetts Miserable: What the Failure of the "Massachusetts Model" Tells Us about Health Care Reform
- Author:
- Michael Tanner
- Publication Date:
- 06-2009
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Cato Institute
- Abstract:
- When Massachusetts passed its pioneering health care reforms in 2006, critics warned that they would result in a slow but steady spiral downward toward a government-run health care system. Three years later, those predictions appear to be coming true: Although the state has reduced the number of residents without health insurance, 200,000people remain uninsured. Moreover, the increase in the number of insured is primarily due to the state's generous subsidies, not the celebrated individual mandate. Health care costs continue to rise much faster than the national average. Since 2006, total state health care spending has increased by28 percent. Insurance premiums have increased by 8–10 percent per year, nearly double the national average. New regulations and bureaucracy are limiting consumer choice and adding to healthcare costs. Program costs have skyrocketed. Despite tax increases, the program faces huge deficits. The state is considering caps on insurance premiums, cuts in reimbursements to providers, and even the possibility of a “global budget” on health care spending—with its attendant rationing. A shortage of providers, combined with increased demand, is increasing waiting times to see a physician. With the “Massachusetts model” frequently cited as a blueprint for health care reform, it is important to recognize that giving the government greater control over our health care system will have grave consequences for taxpayers, providers, and health care consumers. That is the lesson of the Massachusetts model.
- Topic:
- Health, Human Welfare, Markets, and Governance
- Political Geography:
- United States
8. High-Speed Rail Is Not "Interstate 2.0"
- Author:
- Randal O'Toole
- Publication Date:
- 09-2009
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Cato Institute
- Abstract:
- The administration has likened President Obama's high-speed rail plan to President Eisenhower's Interstate Highway System. Yet there are crucial differences between interstate highways and high-speed rail. First, before Congress approved the Interstate Highway System, it had a good idea how much it would cost. In contrast, Congress approved $8 billion for high-speed rail without knowing the total cost, which is likely to be at least $90 billion.
- Topic:
- Energy Policy, Government, and Infrastructure
- Political Geography:
- United States
9. All the President's Mandates: Compulsory Health Insurance Is a Government Takeover
- Author:
- Michael F. Cannon
- Publication Date:
- 09-2009
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Cato Institute
- Abstract:
- The most hazardous health reform measure before Congress is not the so-called "public option," but proposals to make health insurance compulsory via an individual or employer mandate. Compulsory health insurance could require nearly 100 million Americans to switch to a more expensive health plan and would therefore violate President Barack Obama's pledge to let people keep their current health insurance. In particular, the legislation before Congress could eliminate many or all health savings account plans. Making health insurance compulsory would also spark an unnecessary fight over abortion and would enable government to ration care to those with private health insurance.
- Topic:
- Government, Health, and Markets
- Political Geography:
- United States and America
10. The Citizens' Guide to Transportation Reauthorization
- Author:
- Randal O'Toole
- Publication Date:
- 12-2009
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Cato Institute
- Abstract:
- Sometime in 2010 or 2011, Congress expects to decide how to spend the $250 billion or more of federal gas taxes and other highway user fees that will be collected over the next six years. The process of doing so is called surface transportation reauthorization. A major point of contention in this law is how much of our transportation system should be centrally planned and how much should be built and operated in response to the needs of actual transportation users.
- Topic:
- Economics and Infrastructure
- Political Geography:
- United States