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Cato Institute

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The Cato Institute is a libertarian public-policy organization whose scholars and officers appeared repeatedly as guests on The Bob Zadek Show. Bob Zadek describes it as a pillar of libertarian scholarship and a personal influence, while guests affiliated with it apply free-market and limited-government reasoning to capitalism, immigration, foreign policy, poverty, financial regulation, and constitutional law.

Guests and affiliations

The episodes identify several individuals by their Cato roles. Tom G. Palmer is described as a senior fellow with the institute and a director at Cato University, as well as executive vice president for international programs at the Atlas Economic Research Foundation The Morality of Capitalism (2012). John Allison is introduced as former CEO of BB&T who left the bank’s chairmanship to join Cato as its leader John Allison on the Leadership Crisis and the Free Market Cure (2015). Alex Nowrasteh is called an immigration policy specialist with Cato Alex Nowrasteh: How Prop. 187 Turned California Blue (2016). John Glaser is identified as Director of Foreign Policy Studies at the institute, researching grand strategy, defense, U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East, and the rise of China; he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from UMass Amherst and studied at George Mason University Rethinking Pax Americana with John Glaser (2017). Michael Tanner is a Cato Institute Senior Fellow who has written on domestic policy including poverty, social welfare, healthcare, and Social Security Libertarian Anti-Poverty Policy (2019). Bob Levy is Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Cato Institute, with his name found at the Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies; he joined Cato after becoming an attorney, following a career in business A Libertarian Legal Perspective on Vaccine Mandates (2021). David Boaz is Executive Vice President of the institute and author of Libertarianism: A Primer and The Libertarian Mind: A Manifesto for Freedom David Boaz on the Libertarian Ethos (2018).

The institute in Bob Zadek’s framing

Bob Zadek’s own descriptions of Cato are warm and personal. He calls it one of the most important organizations in his life and in his listeners’ lives, saying he found it about 25 years earlier while finding his roots, and describes it as a pillar of strong libertarian scholarship and public policy doctrine, a bright light and lodestar leading himself and millions of others toward an understanding of their relationships to fellow man, government, and the world David Boaz on the Libertarian Ethos (2018). He dates its founding to the 1970s, while inviting Boaz to correct him if he is off by the date. He also notes that he has known Bob Levy for quite some time through his interaction at the Cato Institute A Libertarian Legal Perspective on Vaccine Mandates (2021).

Policy work discussed by Cato guests

The episodes show Cato-affiliated guests advancing arguments on a wide range of subjects. Palmer discusses the moral foundations of capitalism, mutual respect and property rights, and the contrast between free markets and cronyism The Morality of Capitalism (2012). Allison discusses government intervention and subprime mortgage mandates as causes of the 2008 financial crisis, the divide between statism and individualism, and the moral necessity of rational self-interest John Allison on the Leadership Crisis and the Free Market Cure (2015). Nowrasteh discusses immigration policy and how California’s Proposition 187 shifted the state’s political landscape Alex Nowrasteh: How Prop. 187 Turned California Blue (2016). Glaser argues that maintaining approximately 800 bases in 70 countries is an outdated relic of the post-WWII era that often provokes adversaries and entangles the U.S. in unnecessary conflicts; his policy analysis is titled “Withdrawing from Overseas Bases: Why a Forward-Deployed Military Posture is Unnecessary,” and he directs listeners to cato.org and his Twitter handle @JWCGlaser Rethinking Pax Americana with John Glaser (2017). Tanner argues that traditional anti-poverty programs treat symptoms rather than causes, and that structural barriers such as occupational licensing, poor schooling, and the criminal justice system prevent the poor from building wealth; he notes that about a trillion dollars is spent annually at the federal, state, and local level on anti-poverty programs Libertarian Anti-Poverty Policy (2019). Levy discusses the legal and constitutional implications of the Biden administration’s vaccine mandates, particularly the use of OSHA to regulate private employers, and the constitutional non-delegation doctrine as it relates to the administrative state A Libertarian Legal Perspective on Vaccine Mandates (2021).

Across episodes

Cato-affiliated guests appear across episodes from 2012 through 2021, but the episodes show no development in how the institute itself is treated: each appearance follows the same pattern of Bob Zadek introducing a Cato scholar or officer and the guest applying libertarian reasoning to a policy domain. The episodes touching the topic are those featuring Palmer, Allison, Nowrasteh, Shapiro, Glaser, Boaz, Tanner, and Levy.

Guests and episodes

54 appearances by 32 guests, 2009–2023. Guests A–Z by first name.

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