Cuba ’s Uprising and the Social Change that Caught the Dictatorship by Surprise
Ian V ásquezLast December I wrote an op ‐ed (in Spanish) titled“Losing Fear in Cuba” pointing to what appeared to be a significant, new development: ordinary Cubans were becoming unafraid to publicly protest the communist regime. The mass uprising across the country this week in which Cubans shouted, “Down with the dictatorship,” and chanted “Liberty” was astounding because it was unprecedented in Cuba’s police state. But it also showed that Cubans have indeed lost their fear of openly defying the regime.This is a profound change in Cuban society that caught the dictatorship by surprise. ...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - July 16, 2021 Category: American Health Authors: Ian V ásquez Source Type: blogs
Should We Fear Stablecoins?
Lawrence H. WhiteA “stablecoin” is a cryptocurrency whose value is pegged to a fiat currency, gold, or another continuously traded asset. USD Tether (USDT) and USD Coin (USDC), the two stablecoins with the largest values in circulation, are each managed to maintain a price centered on and close to $1.00 (usually w ithin 1 cent). Both Tether and USDC claim to be fully backed by USD assets held in reserve, enabling their parent companies to buy back as many units as needed to maintain the peg. They differ in some other respects, as discussed below. Some other stablecoins are managed by “algorithmic central ba nk” mec...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - June 24, 2021 Category: American Health Authors: Lawrence H. White Source Type: blogs
Women ’s Rights Are Improving Worldwide
Ian V ásquez andGuillermina Sutter SchneiderThe World Bank recently released its latest“Women, Business and the Law” annual report that gathers some 50 years of data evaluating dozens of legal indicators regarding women’s rights in 190 countries. For each country, it answers questions such as “Can a woman choose where to live in the same way as a man?” and “Can a woman register a business in the same way as a man?”We looked at 19 of the report ’s indicators that we felt best measured gender equality (we left out some indicators—e.g., on whether the government administers 100% of maternity leave be...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - May 4, 2021 Category: American Health Authors: Ian V ásquez, Guillermina Sutter Schneider Source Type: blogs
Colombia's Trailblazing Model for Refugees
Colombia recently announced it will give temporary protection status to a million undocumented Venezuelan refugees, with permission to live and work in the country for 10 years. In doing so, it created a new model for managing its own refugee situation and perhaps others elsewhere as well. (Source: The RAND Blog)
Source: The RAND Blog - March 26, 2021 Category: Health Management Authors: Krishna B. Kumar; Shelly Culbertson; Louay Constant Source Type: blogs
Has Bitcoin Succeeded?
Lawrence H. WhiteThe answer depends on what you mean. Succeeded at what?With the US dollar price of Bitcoin reaching an all-time high above $23,000 this month, and its market cap reaching an all-time high above $400 billion, there has been much celebration among Bitcoin holders about their success at investing. The run-up has accompanied the announcements by large institutionalinvestors Grayscale, MicroStrategy, and MassMutual that they are acquiring hundreds of millions of dollars in Bitcoin for their investment portfolios. There isn ' t much doubt that the Bitcoin project has succeeded remarkably at creating a new type o...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - December 28, 2020 Category: American Health Authors: Lawrence H. White Source Type: blogs
Voting Machine Conspiracy Theories Harm U.S. Cybersecurity
Julian SanchezLast week, I wrote about a crackpot conspiracy theory making the rounds: The allegation that voting machines or tabulation software produced by Dominion Voting Systems had somehow been “hacked” or “rigged” to alter the outcome of the presidential election. At the time, I worried I might be giving undue attention to an outlandish claim that —given how thin and easily debunked was the “evidence” for it—would surely fade away on its own. Apparently, I need not have worried. Since then, the Dominion Theory has not only led to thefiring of Chris Krebs, the well ‐respec...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - November 20, 2020 Category: American Health Authors: Julian Sanchez Source Type: blogs
Sanctions and COVID-19
James KnuppIn the middle of the global COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. sanctions continue to have a major impact on the lives of citizens in a number of countries, including Iran, North Korea, and Venezuela. How do sanctions affect a country during a pandemic? And does this crisis make a case for reimagining how the United States conducts sanctions?Yesterday afternoon, Richard Nephew of Columbia University joined Cato ’s Emma Ashford and John Glaser to discuss U.S. sanctions policy, and especially how the current pandemic has been exacerbated by these sanctions, in a live stream event, “Economic Sanctions during a Pan...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - April 21, 2020 Category: American Health Authors: James Knupp Source Type: blogs
Combating COVID-19 Misinformation with Disassociation
Matthew FeeneyDeadly misinformation spread across social media long before COVID-19 emerged, but amid the ongoing pandemic attempts to tackle such content are once again in the limelight. These efforts provide an opportunity for classical liberals to emphasize the importance of freedom of association and to prepare for discussions about how private institutions handle misinformation amid a crisis.Too often we think of the freedom of speech to be a freedom that protects speakers from government censorship. And while the freedom to speak is a necessary condition for a functioning liberal society it’s not the only fre...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - April 1, 2020 Category: American Health Authors: Matthew Feeney Source Type: blogs
Socialism Collapses Again?
David BoazThe failures of socialism have been chronicled many places, fromSocialism by Ludwig von Mises in 1922 toSocialism: The Failed Idea That Never Dies by Kristian Niemietz just last year. Perhaps the most contemporary failure, outside the continuing tragedies of North Korea and Cuba, is the sad example of Hugo Chavez ’s “21st century socialism” in Venezuela, which turned out to be all too similar to 20th century socialism.But right now we may be witnessing yet another failure of socialism: the sudden collapse of the presidential campaign of self ‐proclaimed socialist Bernie Sanders.Just two weeks ago there...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - March 11, 2020 Category: American Health Authors: David Boaz Source Type: blogs
Senator Sanders Is Wrong on Cuban Education and Healthcare
Marian L. Tupy andChelsea FollettThe current frontrunner among the contenders vying to become the Democratic Party ’s presidential candidate, Senator Bernie Sanders (D‑VT), sang Cuba’s praises in a recent60 Minutesinterview on CBS. Senator Sanders applauded Cuba ’s education and healthcare system. Potential Sanders supporters should know that Cuba’s literacy rate and healthcare system are nothing to lionize.First, consider literacy. According to Sanders, “When Fidel Castro came into office, you know what he did? He had a massive literacy program. Is that a bad thing? ” Sanders is surely old eno...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - February 25, 2020 Category: American Health Authors: Marian L. Tupy, Chelsea Follett Source Type: blogs
The Democrats' Search for a New Foreign Policy
A. Trevor Thrall andJordan CohenCato will be hosting a panel discussion on January 28,The Future of Progressive Foreign Policy: 2020 and Beyond, featuringKate Kizer from Win Without War, Loren DeJonge Schulman from the Center for a New American Security,Dan Nexon from Georgetown University,Adam Mount from the Federation of American Scientists, andMena Ayazi from the Alliance for Peacebuilding.To provide some broad perspective for the discussion, we are sharing a slightly updated version of an article wepublished in the November/December issue of the German magazine,Internationale Politik. In it we use speeches and campaign...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - January 16, 2020 Category: American Health Authors: A. Trevor Thrall, Jordan Cohen Source Type: blogs
Human Freedom Waning in Many Countries
This article originally appeared on theFraser Forum on January 2, 2020. (Source: Cato-at-liberty)
Source: Cato-at-liberty - January 10, 2020 Category: American Health Authors: Tanja Por čnik Source Type: blogs
New Human Freedom Index: U.S. Is 15, New Zealand and Switzerland Freest
Ian V ásquezThe United States ranks 15 in theHuman Freedom Index 2019 released today by the Cato Institute, the Fraser Institute in Canada, and the Liberales Institut at the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom in Germany. The five freest jurisdictions are New Zealand, Switzerland, Hong Kong, Canada, and Australia.The annual Index uses 76 indicators of personal, civil, and economic freedom in 162 countries for 2017, the most recent year for which sufficient, globally comparable data are available. The report finds that global freedom has declined slightly since 2008, with more countries (79) seeing a fall in their lev...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - December 18, 2019 Category: American Health Authors: Ian V ásquez Source Type: blogs
Want Americans to Buy U.S. Products? Dump the Jones Act.
Colin GrabowJones Act supportersoftenargue that the law, which mandates the use of U.S.-flagged, U.S.-built vessels that are at least 75 percent U.S. owned and crewed for purposes of domestic transport, epitomizes President Trump ’s philosophy of “America First.” But as a newWall Street Journaleditorial points out, the truth is perhaps closer to the opposite:[The Jones Act is] a particular problem for liquid natural gas, since there are zero LNG tankers that meet Jones Act rules. That means Puerto Rico effectively is barred from importing gas from LNG terminals in Georgia or Louisiana. As a result, it apparently tu...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - November 4, 2019 Category: American Health Authors: Colin Grabow Source Type: blogs
Chile's Success Story is Difficult to Deny
Ian V ásquezWeeks after a 3.75% rise in metro fares in Santiago, Chile sparked violent protests by a small group of students that then generated more widespread disruption, mostly peaceful mass protests continue. Some observers have seized on the political crisis to make often-repeated claims that Chile ’s free-market model has generated growing inequality and been fundamentally unjust despite having produced greater wealth.Yet such claims are difficult to square with the facts. Since its free-market reforms began in 1975, Chile has quadrupled its income per capita, making it the most prosperous country in Latin America...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - November 4, 2019 Category: American Health Authors: Ian V ásquez Source Type: blogs
