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701. China’s Stock Market: A Marriage of Capitalism and Socialism

Author:
Sonia M. L. Wong
Publication Date:
10-2006
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The Cato Journal
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
The rise of China’s stock market during the 1990s was nothing short of breathtaking. For more than 30 years after 1949, China was a centrally planned economy in which virtually all enterprises were state owned or collectively owned. Investments were centrally planned and funded by government fiscal grants as well as by loans from the state-owned monobank system as dictated by the government’s central credit plan. In the late 1980s, as part of enterprise reforms that took place during China’s gradual transition to a market economy, local governments in China started experimenting with selling shares of collectively owned enterprises directly to domestic individuals in order to raise equity capital. Curbed trading of enterprise shares soon began and was quickly followed by over-the-counter (OTC) trading in more organized but still informal exchanges. In 1991, two stock exchanges, one created by the Shanghai municipal government and the other by the Shenzhen municipal government, were launched, with the central government’s formal approval. Between 1992 and 2003, the market raised a total of 796.79 billion yuan of equity capital. At the end of 2003, China’s stock market had 1,287 listed enterprises and more than 70 million investor accounts (CSRC 2004).
Topic:
Economy, Investment, Socialism, State Capitalism, and Stock Markets
Political Geography:
China and Asia

702. Mexico Is Becoming the Next Colombia

Author:
Ted Galen Carpenter
Publication Date:
11-2005
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
Mexico is a major source of heroin, marijuana, and methamphetamine for the U.S. market as well as the principal transit and distribution point for cocaine coming in from South America. For years, people both inside and outside Mexico have worried that the country might descend into the maelstrom of corruption and violence that has long plagued the chief drug-source country in the Western Hemisphere, Colombia. There are growing signs that the “Colombianization” of Mexico is now becoming a reality.
Topic:
Crime and Health
Political Geography:
Colombia, South America, Central America, and Mexico

703. Time to Stop Fooling Ourselves about Foreign Aid: A Practitioner's View

Author:
Thomas Dichter
Publication Date:
09-2005
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
The foreign aid industry has for decades tried one approach after another in an effort to make aid work. A career of field experience in the aid industry, however, confirms the empirical record that aid is unimportant to growth or poverty reduction and suggests that aid is not likely to work in the future. The belief that foreign assistance has been generally ineffective, moreover, appears to be widespread among aid practitioners with long field experience.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Economics, International Cooperation, and United Nations

704. Underdevelopment in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Role of the Private Sector and Political Elites

Author:
Moeletsi Mbeki
Publication Date:
04-2005
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
Economic growth in Africa, as in the rest of the world, depends on a vibrant private sector. Entrepreneurs in Africa, however, face daunting constraints. They are prevented from creating wealth by predatory political elites that control the state. African political elites use marketing boards and taxation to divert agricultural savings to finance their own consumption and to strengthen the repressive apparatus of the state. Peasants, who constitute the core of the private sector in sub-Saharan Africa, are the biggest losers. In order for Africa to prosper, peasants need to become the real owners of their primary asset—land—over which they currently have no property rights.
Topic:
Economics, Human Rights, and Politics
Political Geography:
America

705. CATO Institute: Don't Resurrect the Law of the Sea Treaty

Author:
Doug Bandow
Publication Date:
10-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
For more than 20 years, the United States has refused to become a party to the Law of the Sea Treaty. Advocates of the treaty, a comprehensive measure governing navigational rights on the sea and mineral rights on the seabed, claimed that U.S. failure to join the convention would result in chaos on the high seas. It has not. Very few Americans know anything about the treaty, and even advocates are hard-pressed to explain how the United States would benefit from its adoption.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, International Law, and Treaties and Agreements
Political Geography:
United States

706. CATO Institute: Saving Money and Improving Education: How School Choice Can Help States Reduce Education Costs

Author:
David Salisbury
Publication Date:
10-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
Historically, elementary and secondary education has been the largest item in state budgets. During the past three decades, state spending on public education has grown both in terms of revenues spent per pupil and as a percentage of total personal income. Spending on K–12 education is expected to continue to rise during the next few years, mainly because of the increased number of teachers and other school personnel that will be needed to meet increased enrollment.
Topic:
Civil Society, Economics, Education, and Politics

707. CATO Institute: The Personal Lockbox: A First Step on the Road to Social Security Reform

Author:
Michael Tanner
Publication Date:
09-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
With President Bush's call for comprehensive Social Security reform bogged down in the morass of partisan politics, many reform advocates have suggested starting the process with smaller steps. Recently, Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC), Rep. Jim McCrery (R-LA), Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), Rep. Sam Johnson (R-TX), and others have proposed legislation to rebate Social Security surpluses to workers in the form of contributions to personal accounts.
Topic:
Security, Development, Economics, and Politics
Political Geography:
United States

708. CATO Institute: Aging America's Achilles' Heel: Medicaid Long-Term Care

Author:
Stephen A. Moses
Publication Date:
09-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
Seventy-seven million aging baby boomers will sink America's retirement security system if we don't take action soon. A few years ago, the problem went unrecognized by most Americans. Today, the prospect of a fiscal crisis has forced policymakers to focus on solutions.
Topic:
Economics, Government, and Human Welfare
Political Geography:
United States and America

709. CATO Institute: Medicaid's Unseen Costs

Author:
Michael F. Cannon
Publication Date:
08-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
Medicaid occupies a special place among government programs for the poor. Public support for Medicaid is broader and deeper than for other safety net programs because the consequences of inadequate medical care can be much more immediate and severe than those of a lack of money or even food.
Topic:
Economics, Government, and Human Welfare
Political Geography:
United States

710. CATO Institute: Uncompetitive Elections and the American Political System

Author:
Dennis Polhill and Patrick Basham
Publication Date:
06-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
American representative government suffers from the handicap of a largely uncompetitive political system. American politics has fewer and fewer competitive elections. In arguing that political competition matters a great deal, this paper traces the increasing trend toward uncompetitiveness and details the role and nature of incumbency advantage in fostering an uncompetitive political system.
Topic:
Demographics, Political Economy, and Politics
Political Geography:
United States and America

711. CATO Institute: Treating Doctors as Drug Dealers: The DEA's War on Prescription Painkillers

Author:
Ronald T. Libby
Publication Date:
06-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
The medical field of treating chronic pain is still in its infancy. It was only in the late 1980s that leading physicians trained in treating the chronic pain of terminally ill cancer patients began to recommend that the "opioid therapy" (treatment involving narcotics related to opium) used on their patients also be used for patients suffering from nonterminal conditions. The new therapies proved successful, and prescription pain medications saw a huge leap in sales throughout the 1990s. But opioid therapy has always been controversial. The habit-forming nature of some prescription pain medications made many physicians, medical boards, and law enforcement officials wary of their use in treating acute pain in nonterminal patients. Consequently, many physicians and pain specialists have shied away from opioid treatment, causing millions of Americans to suffer from chronic pain even as therapies were available to treat it.
Topic:
Crime, Human Welfare, and Politics
Political Geography:
United States and America

712. CATO Institute: Corruption in the Public Schools: The Market Is the Answer

Author:
Neal McCluskey
Publication Date:
04-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
One of the most frequently voiced objections to school choice is that the free market lacks the "accountability" that governs public education. Public schools are constantly monitored by district administrators, state officials, federal officials, school board members, and throngs of other people tasked with making sure that the schools follow all the rules and regulations governing them. That level of bureaucratic oversight does not exist in the free market, and critics fear choice-based education will be plagued by corruption, poor-quality schools, and failure.
Topic:
Economics, Education, and Politics
Political Geography:
United States

713. CATO Institute: Flying the Unfriendly Skies: Defending against the Threat of Shoulder-Fired Missiles

Author:
Charles V. Peña
Publication Date:
04-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
Shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles, or MANPADS (man-portable air defense systems), have proliferated throughout the world. They can be purchased on the military arms black market for as little as $5,000. More than two dozen terrorist groups, including Al Qaeda, are believed to possess such weapons. The FBI estimates that there have been 29 MANPADS attacks against civilian aircraft resulting in 550 deaths. At least 25 of the reported attacks have been attributed to nonstate actors.
Topic:
Defense Policy, Science and Technology, and Terrorism
Political Geography:
United States

714. CATO Institute: Options for Tax Reform

Author:
Chris Edwards
Publication Date:
02-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
President Bush has established an advisory panel to study federal tax reform options. The panel is headed by former senators Connie Mack of Florida and John Breaux of Louisiana. Congressional leaders, including House Speaker Dennis Hastert and Majority Leader Tom Delay, have also pledged their support for reform.
Topic:
Development, Economics, and Government
Political Geography:
United States, Florida, and Louisiana

715. CATO Institute: Robin Hood in Reverse: The Case against Economic Development Takings

Author:
Ilya Somin
Publication Date:
02-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
The Fifth Amendment and most state constitutions prohibit government from condemning private property except for a “public use.”Traditionally, that has forbidden most condemnations that transfer property from one private owner to another.
Topic:
Development, Economics, and Government
Political Geography:
United States

716. CATO Institute: Peer-to-Peer Networking and Digital Rights Management: How Market Tools Can Solve Copyright Problems

Author:
Michael A. Einhorn and Bill Rosenblatt
Publication Date:
02-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
The term “peer to peer” (P2P) refers generally to software that enables a computer to locate a content file on another networked device and copy the encoded data to its own hard drive. P2P technology often attracts people who use it to reproduce or distribute copyrighted music and movies without authorization of rights owners. For that reason, the short history of P2P technology has been one of constant controversy and calls by many in the content industry to regulate or even ban P2P-based networks or software.
Topic:
Development, Government, and Science and Technology
Political Geography:
United States

717. CATO Institute: Who Killed Telecom? Why the Official Story Is Wrong

Author:
Lawrence Gasman
Publication Date:
02-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
In the mid-1990s as it seemed that lawmakers were about to abandon much of the regulatory apparatus that had hampered the telecommunications industry since the 1930s, the telecom equipment industry began to boom, helped in part by the rise of the Internet. The deregulatory trend led ultimately to the 1996 Telecom Act, and soon the architects and implementers of that act were congratulating themselves on a job well done. We were supposedly building a new telecom infrastructure fit for the information age.
Topic:
Development, Industrial Policy, and Science and Technology
Political Geography:
United States

718. CATO Institute: Health Care in a Free Society: Rebutting the Myths of National Health Insurance

Author:
John C. Goodman
Publication Date:
01-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
Almost everyone agrees that the U.S. health care system is in dire need of reform. But there are differing opinions on what kind of reform would be best. Some on the political left would like to see us copy one of the government-run “single-payer”systems that exist in Western Europe, Canada, and New Zealand, among other places. Proponents of socialized medicine point to other countries as examples of health care systems that are superior to our own. They insist that government will make health care available on the basis of need rather than ability to pay. The rich and poor will have equal access to care. And more serious medical needs will be given priority over less serious needs.
Topic:
Government, Human Welfare, and Politics
Political Geography:
United States, Europe, Canada, and New Zealand

719. CATO Institute: Making College More Expensive: The Unintended Consequences of Federal Tuition Aid

Author:
Gary Wolfram
Publication Date:
01-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
As Congress debates the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, it should heed Friedrich Hayek's warning that democracy is “peculiarly liable, if not guided by accepted common principles, to produce over-all results that nobody wanted.” One result of the federal government's student financial aid programs is higher tuition costs at our nation's colleges and universities. Basic economic theory suggests that the increased demand for higher education generated by HEA will have the effect of increasing tuitions. The empirical evidence is consistent with that—federal loans, Pell grants, and other assistance programs result in higher tuition for students at our nation's colleges and universities.
Topic:
Economics, Education, and Government
Political Geography:
United States

720. How the Drug War in Afghanistan Undermines America's War on Terror

Author:
Ted Galen Carpenter
Publication Date:
11-2004
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
There is a growing tension between two U .S. objectives in Afghanistan. The most important objective is—or at least should be—the eradication of the remaining Al Qaeda and Taliban forces in that country. But the United States and its coalition partners are now also emphasizing the eradication of Afghanistan's drug trade. These antidrug efforts may fatally undermine the far more important anti-terrorism campaign.
Topic:
Foreign Policy and War
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, United States, Middle East, and Taliban