How to Upgrade House Stablecoin Bill 2.0 to Version 2.1
Jack Solowey andJennifer J. SchulpTomorrow, the House Financial Services Committee ’s Digital Assets Subcommittee will holdanother hearing on stablecoins (crypto tokens pegged to the value of another asset like the U.S. dollar).Ahead of the hearing, the Subcommittee released two new discussion drafts of stablecoin legislation, a 74 ‐pager and a 34 ‐pager. These drafts appear to be thereportedseparatepartisan efforts by Democrats and Republicans after they essentially disowned an earlier bipartisan draft —the “ugly baby” they were at one point co‐parenting.Whereas the 74 ‐page draft is striki...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - May 17, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: Jack Solowey, Jennifer J. Schulp Source Type: blogs
The Durham Report: Trump ’s Vindication?
Patrick G. EddingtonFor years, now former President Donald Trump and his key supporters have claimed the FBI ’s investigation into his alleged collusion with Russian officials in order to influence the outcome of the 2016 election–internally known at the FBI as CROSSFIRE HURRICANE–was a hoax. Yesterday, Mr. Trump got some validation for his claim.Late on the afternoon of May 15, Attorney General Merrick Garland released, in nearly unredacted form, the finalreport of Special Counsel John Durham. Durham ’s “investigation of the investigation” was authorized on October 19, 2020, by then‐Attorney General Will...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - May 16, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: Patrick G. Eddington Source Type: blogs
High Court Approves California ’s Pork Production Standards
Walter OlsonThe Supreme Court has ruled that California may prohibit the in ‐state sale of pork raised out of state by methods it deems inhumane, rejecting a constitutional challenge raised by pork producers who had argued that the law would badly disrupt the economies of other states. In so doing the Court appears to have significantly whittled down the scope of the so‐called Dormant Commerce Clause, a clause that has been drawn skepticism from Justices including the late Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, and Neil Gorsuch. While the new decision is a complex one with multiple opinions, it appears to give the g...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - May 12, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: Walter Olson Source Type: blogs
ReasonTV Lampoons the Jones Act
Colin GrabowReasonTV and parody musician Remy have teamed up on a new video poking fun at theJones Act, and the result is nothing short of hilarious:Taking its inspiration from the Beastie Boys ’ 1994 songSabotage, the ReasonTV/ Remy video features a Canadian‐flagged tanker attempting to transport supplies from Florida to Puerto Rico in the wake of a hurricane. Blocking the tanker’s ability to offload its precious cargo, of course, is the Jones Act, the 1920 protectionist shipping law that restricts domestic wat erborne transportation—such as between Florida and Puerto Rico—to vessels that are U.S.-flag...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - May 12, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: Colin Grabow Source Type: blogs
Repeal the Debt Ceiling
This article appeared onSubStack on May 12, 2023.Unless Congress cuts spending or raises taxes in the near future, the federal government will hit its debt ceiling later this summer. At that point the United States will either default or pursue “extraordinary measures,” such as minting a trillion dollarcoin.President Biden wants a “clean” increase in the ceiling; Republicans want a substantial cut in spending in exchange for raising the limit. In all likelihood, the two sides will appear to make no progress until the last second before default; they will then jointly announce a compromise that both sides portray...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - May 12, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: Jeffrey Miron Source Type: blogs
Friday Feature: Taking Charge of Your Children ’s Education
Colleen HroncichMy oldest child is graduating from college tomorrow, so it has me thinking about our educational journey —which could best be described as eclectic. At various times, we used private school, district school, and cyber charter school. But we ultimately landed on homeschooling. That doesn’t mean they were literally learning at home every day. My kids participated in co‐ops, hybrid classes, dual enrollment, athletics, and more. This gave them access to experts and plenty of social time.It can be scary taking charge of your children ’s education—I remember feeling very relieved when my oldest recei...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - May 12, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: Colleen Hroncich Source Type: blogs
Congress Should Protect Americans by Ignoring the FDIC ’s “Reform” Options
Norbert MichelIn the wake of the March 2023 failures of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and Signature Bank, federal agencies released a flurry of reports on April 28. The Federal Reserve (Fed), the Government Accountability Office (GAO), and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) each released their own reports to explain what happened.Just days later, the FDIC releasedanother report. It was unsolicited, but it offered Congress multiple options for reforming federal deposit insurance.In a previous Cato at Libertypost, I discussed the Fed and GAO reports. Today’s post focuses on the two FDIC reports. (I’ll hav...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - May 11, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: Norbert Michel Source Type: blogs
Turkey ’s Election Scenarios: The Good, the Bad, and the Scary
Mustafa AkyolToday, I have new a piece in National Review: “Turkey ’s Election Scenarios: The Good, the Bad, and the Scary. ”It is about the fateful elections that Turkey will have this Sunday. (Which we will also discuss tomorrow at a Cato Institute Policy Forum: “Turkey ’s Centennial Election: What Is at Stake? ”)Despite the dramatic deterioration in Turkey ’s freedoms and rule of law, I explain, the elections are still real and competitive:Turkey is not a Russia, China, or Turkmenistan, where free elections have never been held; Turks have lived under a decently competitive, free electoral system ...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - May 11, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: Mustafa Akyol Source Type: blogs
Financial Economists Dismiss Stock Buyback Fury
Ryan Bourne andSophia BagleyOn May 3, 2023, the Securities and Exchange Commissionadopted a rule to update stock buyback disclosures, igniting the debate over the economics of stock buybacks once again.The rule would require certain stock issuers to provide disclosures of daily repurchase activity on a quarterly or semi‐annual basis. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is vexed by the narrative surrounding this decision and hasthreatened to pursue litigation. Theyposit that disincentivizing buybacks will, “hurt the retirement savings of millions of Americans and result in slower economic growth—hurting the wages of w...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - May 10, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: Ryan Bourne, Sophia Bagley Source Type: blogs
Chileans Vote to Step Back from the Socialist Brink
Daniel RaisbeckBack in August of 2022, I wrote about how a small band of sanctimonious, sophomoric malcontents had—astoundingly—taken over the Chilean state. President Gabriel Boric, who was elected to his country’s highest office in 2021 at the age of 35, had assembled a team of former student activists. Since the early 2010’s, their main contri bution to Chilean society had consisted of leading numerous protests against the country’ssoi disant“neoliberal” model. First, it was against school choice and profit in the education sector. Then it was against the private pension system. Finally, in 2019,mild ...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - May 10, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: Daniel Raisbeck Source Type: blogs
Amid Wave of Fed Criticism, Cato Study Finds Fed Has Been Historically Ineffective at Managing Inflation
Jai KediaRecentGallup polls have found that public confidence in Fed chair, Jerome Powell, is at an all ‐time low, with only 36% of respondents indicating a “great deal” or “fair amount” of confidence that the Fed chair would right the economy. This low point follows waves of criticism fromex ‐ andpotential Presidents along with current President Joe Biden placing theFed at the forefront of combating thepost ‐Covid inflationary spike. Combined with a 2022 survey that shows 74% of U.S. voters believe the Fed has “a lot of control” or “some control” over inflation, it is clear why the Fed has fo...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - May 10, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: Jai Kedia Source Type: blogs
Title 42 Failed. It Should Not Be Extended in Any Form
David J. BierWith thesunsetting of the public health emergency this week, Border Patrol will lose its ability to expel some immigrants at the border under Title 42. Under Title 42, Border Patrol could quickly remove someone from the United States, sending them back to Mexico or, in some cases, their home country without allowing them the ability to request asylum in the United States. President Biden ’s plan to replace Title 42 involves more legal immigration andan asylum ban for those who cross illegally paired with deportations to Mexico for eight nationalities.Title 42 has failed on its own terms. Crossings have incre...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - May 10, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: David J. Bier Source Type: blogs
Title 42 Failed. It Should Not Be Extended in Any Form.
David J. BierWith thesunsetting of the public health emergency this week, Border Patrol will lose its ability to expel some immigrants at the border under Title 42. Under Title 42, Border Patrol could quickly remove someone from the United States, sending them back to Mexico or, in some cases, their home country without allowing them the ability to request asylum in the United States. President Biden ’s plan to replace Title 42 involves more legal immigration andan asylum ban for those who cross illegally paired with deportations to Mexico for eight nationalities.Title 42 has failed on its own terms. Crossings have incre...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - May 10, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: David J. Bier Source Type: blogs
School Districts Sue Over the “Nuisance” of Online Speech
Walter OlsonI ’ve got a newopinion piece at Ricochet about a particularly disturbing new lawsuit campaign:According toeducation site The 74, at least eleven school districts around the country have sued the owners of such platforms as Snap, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok seeking financial compensation for the “increased mental health services and training they’ve ‘been forced’ to establish” as a consequence of student use of social media.… Cash demands aside, the schools say they want to negotiate a settlement with the platforms to change how they operate.The cited article is from March, and I ’m told ...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - May 10, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: Walter Olson Source Type: blogs
R.I.P. Newton Minow
Paul MatzkoFormer FCC Chairman Newton Minow died a few days ago and outlets dug deep into their archives to dust off their pre‐written obits for the 97‐year‐old who lived a full and eventful life. I had the opportunity to be on a panel with Minow back in 2021, which was a somewhat surreal experience given how few of the people that I covered in mybook on broadcasting in the 1960s are still around. I have a few thoughts about his legacy to share with you.Let ’s start with a positive note. Minow often had solid foresight. For instance, he was right when hetold JFK that launching the first telecom...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - May 10, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: Paul Matzko Source Type: blogs
