Economics wasn't called the "dismal science" for ignoring slavery's evil—it earned the label for defending free labor and human liberty. Understanding slavery's economics strengthens, not weakens, the moral case against it, says Cato's Ryan Bourne. https://ow.ly/YZxz50Zwiyz

JD Vance and the Dismal Science

Economics earned the “dismal” epithet that Vance now repeats, in other words, not by calculating away human freedom but by taking it seriously.

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Don't hit other people. Don't take their stuff. And let people do as they will. Watch David Boaz break down the core of libertarianism — and explain why following these simple rules produces economic growth, progress, and a rising standard of living for everyone.

The Senate confirmed Jay Clayton as DNI on July 28, yet Bill Pulte continued as acting DNI for nearly a week. Cato’s Thomas A. Berry says the Federal Vacancies Reform Act ended Pulte’s authority at confirmation, not at the swearing-in, making his actions legally vulnerable. https://ow.ly/7iA950Zwiqu

William Pulte Served Illegally as Acting Director of National Intelligence for Nearly a Week

William Pulte purported to act as the director of national intelligence for nearly a week after Jay Clayton was confirmed as his successor. That violates the plain text of the Vacancies Act.

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Individuals abroad responded to Trump's “Liberation Day” tariff announcements by reducing their travel to the United States, costing the US over $1 billion in lost revenue from tourism per month. Learn more from Cato’s Alfredo Carrillo Obregon. https://ow.ly/NR4j50Zwg1K

Congress’s latest continuing resolution avoids an unnecessary government shutdown, but it does nothing to address the nation’s worsening fiscal trajectory, says Romina Boccia of the Cato Institute.

The Fed needs a clear rule for setting interest rates. Without one, markets are left guessing why rates stay the same, go up, or go down. Every decision looks like a judgment call, says Cato’s Jai Kedia. No clear rule equals more uncertainty. https://ow.ly/mH9g50Zwika

A Federal Reserve Stuck in Limbo

The unease lingering now around the Warsh Fed can be owed to something that the chairman hasn’t had enough time yet to address: The Fed still has no objective framework for setting its federal-funds rate target.

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53% of Gen Z views socialism favorably and 38% views communism favorably, a new Cato Institute poll finds. Among Americans over 65, those numbers drop to 23% and 5%. It's a real and growing generational divide. Learn more from Cato's Rikki Schlott.

Senators John Curtis & Mark Kelly have introduced a bill to let states sponsor foreign workers. David Bier calls it an excellent & practical idea. “If the State-Sponsored Visa Pilot Program Act had existed, there would have been very little illegal immigration since 1986.” https://ow.ly/yoFo50Zwglk

Markets should drive competition, not government mandate. The CFPB's open banking rules should protect property rights and freedom of contract by letting banks and fintechs negotiate data access prices, says Cato’s Solveig Singleton. https://ow.ly/ejsR50Zwf1g

Open Banking: Letting Banks Charge for Access to Data Most Likely to Yield Market Benefits

Some argue that open banking rules should force data providers to offer data access to competitors for free to promote competition. Reforms that promote competition are a great idea. But regulatory history shows that reforms should also respect incumbents’ property rights in their networks. Data providers and users should negotiate market prices for data. Without property rights and freedom of contract, investment in key open banking infrastructure will lag, and consumers will not enjoy the full benefits of real markets.

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"We're at significant risk." Major escalation from US-Israeli strikes on Iran would increase the danger to American forces in the Middle East at a moment when the US is confronting a shortage of the munitions needed to defend them, warns Cato’s Katherine Thompson on NewsNation.

A new bill would make staging a crash with a commercial vehicle a federal crime with mandatory prison terms. But auto insurance fraud is a local matter, and a state's failure to act does not hand Washington jurisdiction, says Cato's Mike Fox. https://ow.ly/w39750ZwaBq

The Pentagon claims the Iran war cost $37.5 billion while independent analysts estimate over $100 billion. A democracy cannot hold its government accountable if the true cost of its wars is hidden, writes Cato's Benjamin Giltner. https://ow.ly/tB7w50ZwaqS

Secretary Hegseth’s $37.5 Billion Iran War Claim Doesn’t Add Up

Independent organizations and the public must continue to investigate and bring to light the actual costs of this war. Transparency in government, any semblance of it, is mandatory for a democratic government.

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The biggest threat to markets is not private industry, it’s the state. Every regulation is a way of attacking competition, says Argentina’s Federico Sturzenegger in a recent interview with Cato’s Free Society.

NY police tricked a woman into drinking from a cup, then pulled her DNA and added it to a secret database. They have done this to thousands of people who were never charged with a crime. Cato filed a brief in this case, arguing that the Fourth Amendment requires a warrant. https://ow.ly/1mHL50ZvUlN

Leslie v. City of New York Brief: NYC's "Suspect Index" of Secretly Harvested DNA Is Unconstitutional

The NYPD routinely collects DNA samples in an orchestrated surreptitious manner through ruses involving straws, bottles, or even cigarettes, without the knowledge or consent of the searched individual and without a court order.

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Licensing prevents lower-price clinicians from providing services they are competent to provide, explain Cato’s Michael F. Cannon & Jeffrey A. Singer. The fix is simple: free nurse practitioners, psychologists, & pharmacists to practice to the full extent of their training. https://ow.ly/lSjy50ZllKM

Zoning that caps the number of homes per lot shrinks supply and raises prices. New Boston research finds density limits, not height restrictions, are what drive up housing costs. Letting the market work would mean more homes at lower cost, writes Cato’s Jeffrey Miron. https://ow.ly/8rlJ50ZvSag

The Adverse Effects of Zoning Restrictions: Evidence from Boston

Eliminating these distortions would allow for better, market-driven outcomes.

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The Commerce Department is taking stakes in six more CHIPS Act recipients, pushing the government's corporate portfolio to 30. Washington is now a regulator, subsidizer, buyer, and shareholder, making federal ownership routine, writes Cato's Tad DeHaven. https://ow.ly/vZJ050ZvRv7

Do less. That's the best direction for the Fed, says Cato's Jai Kedia. He proposes a roadmap for the Fed's five task forces: https://ow.ly/1nOe50ZvSBo

Trade policy uncertainty is the highest in 60 years. Jobs unfilled, projects shelved, contracts unsigned, and plenty more. All because businesses have no clue what Washington might do next. The economic cost of this chaos is real and rising, says Cato's Scott Lincicome. https://ow.ly/mj1N50Zvenp

"You sound like a libertarian." That's what a family friend told Alex Nowrasteh in sixth grade. Now the Cato senior vice president for policy, Alex shares the story of how he came to embrace libertarianism and the book that introduced him to Hayek, Mises, and Rothbard.

Puerto Rico imports far less U.S. petroleum than its Caribbean neighbors—all because of the protectionist Jones Act. Before President Trump waived the law, it blocked the island from buying cheaper American fuel it clearly wanted, writes Cato's Colin Grabow. https://ow.ly/KAcZ50ZvbJQ

President Trump’s tariffs push US companies back into China. The latest US tariff framework has created near-parity between many imports from China & other countries, further undermining the idea that China has been driving the president’s protectionist policies, says Scott Lincicome buff.ly/TbqvAv5

Heatwaves kill more than 175,000 Europeans every year, and 80% have no air conditioning. Not because they can't afford it. Because governments have regulated and restricted it. Learn more from Cato’s Chelsea Follett: https://ow.ly/SebZ50Zvb3g

If Congress won't strip the FDA of its prescription power entirely, it should at least set an expiration date on prescription requirements, say Cato’s Michael F. Cannon and Jeffrey A. Singer. Greater over-the-counter access would reduce the price of medicines. https://ow.ly/lapO50ZllzE

Happy Birthday, Milton Friedman! Nobel Prize-winning economist, champion of free markets, and one of the most influential thinkers of the 20th century was born on July 31, 1912.

The DOJ exists to enforce the law—not chase headlines. The next attorney general should carefully consider whether it's law or politics driving investigations. Rule of law beats populist theater, says Cato’s Matthew Cavedon. https://ow.ly/4sWY50ZuIrT

Under Section 702, your calls and emails with anyone abroad can land in NSA databases. Ordinary Americans are told the agency cannot confirm it. Only the famous get answers. Congress should change the law, writes Cato's Pat Eddington. https://ow.ly/eTmG50ZuHI1

The NSA, Tucker Carlson, and Me: Surveillance State Deception

If you communicate with people overseas, the federal government will likely never acknowledge it collected your communications. Unless, perhaps, you have a large cable TV audience and politicians willing to demand answers.

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To lower grocery bills, we need politicians to stop driving up the cost of producing and selling food. Eliminate food tariffs. End the sugar program. Kill the ethanol mandate. Reform farm labor rules. That will lower grocery bills for every American. Cato's Colin Grabow explains how.

Trump has ordered warning signs about the Smithsonian's "ideological capture." Fights like this are inevitable when the government funds history. Privatize the museums and the debate dissolves, writes Cato's Jeffrey Miron. https://ow.ly/Fcyy50ZuH1f

The Jones Act waiver didn't just increase cargo volumes. It unlocked trade routes the Jones Act had kept dormant for decades, explains Cato’s Colin Grabow. Gulf Coast to Hawaii, New Jersey to Puerto Rico, Texas to Alaska, and more. https://ow.ly/9JbQ50ZuuF5