Cato Daily Podcast

Statistics are typically meant to influence, and influence can be achieved with bad statistics. Tim Harford tries to help you discern truth from fiction in The Data Detective: Ten Easy Rules to Make Sense of Statistics. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Why do so few defendants get their day in court? Kevin Ring of FAMM discusses The Vanishing Trial. You may also host a screening of the film. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

State budgets didn't suffer the fate that was so widely predicted as COVID-19 began spreading throughout the U.S. Why? Logan Kolas of the Buckeye Institute and Chris Edwards comment. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

State budgets didn't suffer the fate that was so widely predicted as COVID-19 began spreading throughout the U.S. Why? Logan Kolas of the Buckeye Institute and Chris Edwards comment. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

When species recover, the feds should remove them from the Endangered Species List. But that's not how it often works. Jonathan Wood of the Property and Environment Research Center comments. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Despite a Supreme Court ruling nudging states in the other direction, Indiana is continuing its fight to lay excessive fines over small-time drug crimes. Sam Gedge with the Institute for Justice is representing Tyson Timbs against Indiana. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The minimum wage debate is rekindled as the Biden Administration plans its push for $15 an hour. Chris Edwards and Ryan Bourne discuss the side-effects and drawbacks. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Tom Firey and Will Yeatman offer the soberest of sober assessments of the Trump regulatory record and a few thoughts on what's in store from Team Biden. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The second impeachment trial for Donald Trump ended up considerably more bipartisan than the last one, but “Citizen Trump" was nonetheless acquitted. So, have Republicans helped set a kind-of precedent by not issuing a conviction? Gene Healy dissects the trial. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield are the icons better known for Ben and Jerry's ice cream. Now they're focusing their notoriety on ending qualified immunity. Ben, Jerry, and Cato's Jay Schweikert comment on the campaign to end the powerful, court-invented doctrine that shields public officials from accountability. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

U.S. Marshals sometimes act like local police, but with more violence and less accountability. That's according to a new investigation led by the Marshall Project. Reining it in is no easy task, according to co-author Simone Weichselbaum. And the Marshals, like other federal cops, regularly deputize local cops. That makes accountability for misconduct even more difficult, according to Patrick Jaicomo, an attorney at the Institute for Justice. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out...

"Fusionism," something of an ideological nonaggression pact between libertarians and conservatives, has fallen on hard times. Can it be reborn? Stephanie Slade of Reason discusses her new article on the subject. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The President's second impeachment trial begins with most Republicans agreeing that the whole proceeding is a "sham" and is unconstitutional. Gene Healy describes the arguments. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The fight over leadership at Bogazici University in Turkey again shows how fragile academic freedom can be. Mustafa Akyol comments. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The conflation of human trafficking and sex work is both destructive and counterproductive, and the Super Bowl offers another opportunity to end myths surrounding sex work. Sex worker advocate Kaytlin Bailey comments. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Stuart Ritchie is author of Science Fictions: How Fraud, Bias, Negligence, and Hype Undermine the Search for Truth. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The Trump Administration rushed more than a dozen federal executions in its final months, but the death penalty itself is now historically unpopular even among conservatives. Hannah Cox with Conservatives Concerned about the Death Penalty discusses the broad trend away from support for one form of state-sanctioned killing. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

How free should law enforcement feel to make use of new investigative technology without permission from political authorities? Matthew Feeney and Patrick Eddington discuss facial recognition tech in the wake of last month's Capitol attack. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

How will regulating stock trades change following last week's big short squeeze executed by retail traders? Jennifer Schulp and Matthew Feeney comment. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

There are plenty of fingers pointing after a wild week on Wall Street that left hedge funds bloodied, traders exuberant, members of Congress signaling support for whoever the good guys might be, and trading platforms in a well-earned PR bind. Jennifer Schulp comments. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.