170-588: The Cato Institute is an American libertarian think tank headquartered in Washington, D.C. It was founded in 1977 by Ed Crane , Murray Rothbard , and Charles Koch , chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Koch Industries . Cato was established to focus on public advocacy , media exposure, and societal influence. Cato advocates for a limited governmental role in domestic and foreign affairs and strong protection of civil liberties , including support for lowering or abolishing most taxes, opposition to
340-535: A filibuster . On a second vote to confirm, the 30 dissents came from 11 Democrats, 18 Republicans and one independent. Bernanke was succeeded as chair of the Federal Reserve by Janet Yellen , the first woman to hold the position. Yellen was nominated on October 9, 2013, by President Obama and confirmed by the United States Senate on January 6, 2014. Bernanke has been subjected to criticism concerning
510-556: A liberal lifestyle , opposing big business and having a New Left opposition to imperialism and war . Right-libertarianism is described as having interest in economic freedom , preferring a conservative lifestyle , viewing private business as a "great victim of the state" and favoring a non-interventionist foreign policy, sharing the Old Right 's "opposition to empire". Although some libertarians such as Walter Block , Harry Browne , Leonard Read and Murray Rothbard reject
680-722: A budget of $ 23 million in 2012. In 2015, Cato's revenue exceeded $ 37 million, and the organization had 124 employees on staff. In 2024, its revenue was reported at more than $ 71 million. Various Cato Institute programs were favorably ranked in a survey on think tanks published by the University of Pennsylvania in 2012. The Cato Institute publishes policy studies, briefing papers, periodicals, and books. Journals and periodicals include Cato Journal (since 1981), Regulation magazine (acquired in 1990), Cato's Letter , Cato Supreme Court Review , Cato Policy Report , Cato published Inquiry Magazine from 1977 to 1982 (before transferring it to
850-801: A capitalist free-market position. However, libertarian intellectuals Noam Chomsky , Colin Ward and others argue that the term libertarianism is considered a synonym for anarchism and libertarian socialism by the international community and that the United States is unique in widely associating it with the capitalist free-market ideology. Modern libertarianism in the United States mainly refers to classical and economic liberalism. It supports capitalist free-market approaches as well as neoliberal policies and economic liberalization reforms such as austerity , deregulation , free trade , privatization and reductions in government spending in order to increase
1020-477: A constitutional right to same-sex marriage. Cato does not formally oppose capital punishment ; however, they have frequently criticized the practice. Cato scholars have written about the issues of the environment, including global warming, environmental regulation, and energy policy. According to social scientists Riley Dunlap and Aaron McCright the Cato Institute is one of the "particularly crucial elements of
1190-527: A desire to win at least 5% of the vote so that the Libertarian Party candidates could get equal ballot access and federal funding , ending the two-party system . While some political commentators have described Senator Rand Paul and Congressman Thomas Massie of Kentucky as Republican libertarians or libertarian-leaning, they prefer to identify as constitutional conservatives . One federal officeholder openly professing some form of libertarianism
1360-632: A few friends formed the Libertarian Party in 1971. Attracting former Democrats , Republicans and independents , it has run a presidential candidate every election year since 1972. Over the years, dozens of libertarian political parties have been formed worldwide. Educational organizations like the Center for Libertarian Studies and the Cato Institute were formed in the 1970s and others have been created since then. Philosophical libertarianism gained
1530-462: A form of democratised Whig constitutionalism plus the free market . The point of difference comes with the influence of social liberalism " and the proper role of government. Some modern American libertarians are distinguished from the dominant libertarian tradition by their relation to property and capital . While both historical libertarianism and contemporary economic libertarianism share general antipathy towards power by government authority,
1700-785: A four-year term as chairman (after having been nominated by President Bush in late 2005). By virtue of the chairmanship, he sat on the Financial Stability Oversight Board that oversees the Troubled Asset Relief Program . He also served as chairman of the Federal Open Market Committee, the System's principal monetary policy making body. His first months as chairman of the Federal Reserve System were marked by difficulties communicating with
1870-457: A libertarian at heart. Paul was the Libertarian Party candidate for president in 1988. In the 1980s, libertarians such as Paul and Rothbard criticized President Reagan, Reaganomics and policies of the Reagan administration for, among other reasons, having turned the United States' big trade deficit into debt and the United States became a debtor nation for the first time since World War I under
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#17328455961192040-442: A major impact on the libertarian movement through his book The Conscience of a Conservative and his 1964 presidential campaign . Goldwater's speech writer Karl Hess became a leading libertarian writer and activist. The Vietnam War split the uneasy alliance between growing numbers of self-identified libertarians and traditionalist conservatives who believed in limiting liberty to uphold moral virtues. Libertarians opposed to
2210-525: A mild downturn, banks are likely to significantly cut back lending and other risky ventures. This further hurts the economy, creating a vicious cycle and potentially turning a mild recession into a major depression. Economist Brad DeLong , who had previously advocated his own theory for the Great Depression, notes that the 2007–2008 financial crisis raised the pertinence of Bernanke's theory. In 2002, following coverage of concerns about deflation in
2380-552: A minimum and that it is only legitimate to the extent that people voluntarily support, leaving a significant imprint on libertarianism in the United States. The use of the term libertarianism to describe a left-wing position has been traced to the French cognate libertaire , a word coined in a letter French libertarian communist Joseph Déjacque wrote to anarchist Pierre-Joseph Proudhon in 1857. While in New York City, Déjacque
2550-525: A much smaller government; one that is limited to protecting individuals from coercion and violence. Libertarians tend to embrace individual responsibility, oppose government bureaucracy and taxes, promote private charity, tolerate diverse lifestyles, support the free market, and defend civil liberties". Libertarians have worked to implement their ideas through the Libertarian Party, the Free State Project , agorism , and other forms of activism. Since
2720-427: A reintegration of libertarianism with concerns that are traditionally thought of as being concerns of the left. That includes concerns for worker empowerment, worry about plutocracy, concerns about feminism and various kinds of social equality". Konkin defined right-libertarianism as an "activist, organization, publication or tendency which supports parliamentarianism exclusively as a strategy for reducing or abolishing
2890-500: A result, Cato advocates the United States should be an example of democracy and human rights, not their armed vindicator abroad, claiming it has a rich history, from George Washington to Cold War realists like George Kennan . Cato scholars aim to restore this view, with a principled and restrained foreign policy recommendation, to keep the nation out of most foreign conflicts and be cheaper, more ethical, and less destructive of civil liberties. Cato scholars have consistently called for
3060-474: A second Libertarian League was founded in New York City as a political organization building on the Libertarian Book Club . Members included Sam Dolgoff , Russell Blackwell , Dave Van Ronk , Enrico Arrigoni and Murray Bookchin . This Libertarian League had a narrower political focus than the first, promoting anarchism and syndicalism. Its central principle, stated in its journal Views and Comments ,
3230-402: A second term. However, Bernanke was confirmed for a second term as chairman on January 28, 2010, by a 70–30 vote of the full Senate, the narrowest margin, at the time, for any occupant of the position. (For the roll-call vote, see Obama confirmations, 2010 .) The Senate first voted 77–23 to end debate, Bernanke winning more than the 60 approval votes needed to overcome the possibility of
3400-552: A senior adviser. In the same month it was revealed that Bernanke would also join PIMCO as a senior advisor. In his 2015 book, The Courage to Act , Bernanke revealed that he was no longer a Republican, having "lost patience with Republicans' susceptibility to the know-nothing-ism of the far right. ... I view myself now as a moderate independent, and I think that's where I'll stay." Bernanke published in 2022 his latest book titled 21st Century Monetary Policy: The Federal Reserve from
3570-529: A significant measure of recognition in academia with the publication in 1974 of Harvard University professor Robert Nozick 's Anarchy, State, and Utopia , a response to John Rawls 's A Theory of Justice (1971). The book proposed a minimal state on the grounds that it was an inevitable phenomenon that could arise without violating individual rights . The book won a National Book Award in 1975. According to libertarian essayist Roy Childs , "Nozick's Anarchy, State, and Utopia single-handedly established
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#17328455961193740-420: A speech delivered on April 7, 2010, he warned that the U.S. must soon develop a "credible" plan to address the pending funding crisis faced by "entitlement programs such as Social Security and Medicare" or "in the longer run we will have neither financial stability nor healthy economic growth." Bernanke said that formulation of such a plan would help the economy in the near term, even if actual implementation of
3910-532: A statement made by Milton Friedman about using a " helicopter drop " of money into the economy to fight deflation. Bernanke's critics have since referred to him as "Helicopter Ben" or to his "helicopter printing press." In a footnote to his speech, Bernanke noted that "people know that inflation erodes the real value of the government's debt and, therefore, that it is in the interest of the government to create some inflation." For example, while Greenspan publicly supported President Clinton's deficit reduction plan and
4080-684: A storybook land". Paul expressed his disgust with the political culture of both major parties in a speech delivered in 1984 upon resigning from the House of Representatives to prepare for a failed run for the Senate and eventually apologized to his libertarian friends for having supported Reagan. By 1987, Paul was ready to sever all ties to the Republican Party as explained in a blistering resignation letter. While affiliated with both Libertarian and Republican parties at different times, Paul said he had always been
4250-464: A street for protest from its owners. The abolition of public amenities is a common theme in some modern American libertarian writings. During the 18th century and Age of Enlightenment , classical liberal ideas flourished in Europe and North America. For philosopher Roderick T. Long, libertarians "share a common – or at least an overlapping—intellectual ancestry. [Libertarians] [...] claim
4420-522: A teenager, Bernanke worked construction on a hospital and waited tables at a restaurant at nearby South of the Border , which was a roadside attraction, amusement park, and fireworks retailer near his hometown in Hamer, South Carolina , before leaving for college. To support himself throughout college, he continued to work during the summers at South of the Border. As a teenager in the 1960s, Bernanke helped roll
4590-450: A term, libertarian or economic libertarian has the most colloquial acceptance to describe a member of the movement, with the latter term being based on both the ideology's primacy of economics and its distinction from libertarians of the New Left. According to Ian Adams: "Ideologically, all US parties are liberal and always have been. Essentially they espouse classical liberalism, that is
4760-543: Is Congressman Justin Amash , who represents Michigan's 3rd congressional district since January 2011. Initially elected to Congress as a Republican, Amash left the party and became an independent in July 2019. In April 2020, Amash joined the Libertarian Party and became the first member of the party in the House of Representatives. Following the 2022 Libertarian National Convention ,
4930-780: Is a temporary problem. This disconnect is dangerous." Upon the revelation of the Quince pseudonym during the Starr v. United States trial, The New York Times created a cocktail inspired by Mr. Bernanke's chosen alias: the "Rye & Quince." Bernanke has given several lectures at the London School of Economics on monetary theory and policy. He has written two textbooks: an intermediate-level macroeconomics textbook coauthored with Andrew Abel (and also Dean Croushore in later editions) and an introductory textbook, covering both microeconomics and macroeconomics, coauthored with Robert H. Frank . Bernanke
5100-516: Is against affirmative action . It has also called for total abolition of the welfare state , and has argued that it should be replaced with reduced business regulations to create more jobs, and argues that private charities are fully capable of replacing it. Cato has also opposed antitrust laws. Cato is an opponent of campaign finance reform , arguing that government is the ultimate form of potential corruption and that such laws undermine democracy by undermining competitive elections. Cato also supports
5270-469: Is also related to anti-capitalist , free-market anarchist strands such as left-wing market anarchism , referred to as market-oriented left-libertarianism to distinguish itself from other forms of libertarianism. Libertarianism includes anarchist and libertarian socialist tendencies, although they are not as widespread as in other countries. Murray Bookchin , a libertarian within this socialist tradition, argued that anarchists, libertarian socialists and
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5440-449: Is based on consequentialism , only taking into account the consequences of actions and rules when judging them and holds that free markets and strong property rights have good consequences. The second type is based on deontological ethics and is the theory that all individuals possess certain natural or moral rights , mainly a right of individual sovereignty . Acts of initiation of force and fraud are rights-violations and that
5610-419: Is based on pollsters and researchers defining libertarian views as fiscally conservative and socially liberal (based on the common United States meanings of the terms) and against government intervention in economic affairs and for expansion of personal freedoms . Through 20 polls on this topic spanning 13 years, Gallup found that voters who are libertarian on the political spectrum ranged from 17 to 23% of
5780-416: Is described as one of the three female founding figures of the modern libertarian movement in the United States. Although influenced by the work of the 19th-century American individualist anarchists, themselves influenced by classical liberalism. Rothbard thought they had a faulty understanding of economics because they accepted the labor theory of value as influenced by the classical economists while he
5950-461: Is divided over the use of conservatism as an alternative. Those who seek both economic and social liberty within a capitalist order would be known as liberals , but that term developed associations opposite of the limited government , low-taxation, minimal state advocated by the movement. Name variants of the free-market revival movement include classical liberalism , economic liberalism , free-market liberalism and neoliberalism . As
6120-425: Is opposed to expanding overtime regulations, arguing that it will benefit some employees in the short term, while costing jobs or lowering wages of others, and have no meaningful long-term impact. It opposes child labor prohibitions, opposes public sector unions , and supports right-to-work laws . It opposes universal health care , arguing that it is harmful to patients and an intrusion onto individual liberty. It
6290-465: Is sometimes viewed as more humanitarian than thin libertarianism. Wendy McElroy has stated that she would leave the movement if thick libertarianism prevails. Stephan Kinsella rejects the dichotomy altogether, writing: "I have never found the thick-thin paradigm to be coherent, consistent, well-defined, necessary, or even useful. It's full of straw men, or seems to try to take credit for quite obvious and uncontroversial assertions". The Alliance of
6460-541: Is sufficient reason to oppose those acts. Deontological libertarianism is supported by the Libertarian Party . In order to become a card-carrying member, one must sign an oath opposing the initiation of force to achieve political or social goals. Prominent consequentialist libertarians include David D. Friedman , Milton Friedman , Friedrich Hayek , Peter Leeson , Ludwig von Mises and R. W. Bradford . Prominent deontological libertarians include Hans-Hermann Hoppe , Ayn Rand and Murray Rothbard . In addition to
6630-417: Is the dominant form of libertarianism in the United States, compared to that of left-libertarianism . The latter is associated with the left-wing of the modern libertarian movement and more recently to the political positions associated with academic philosophers Hillel Steiner , Philippe Van Parijs and Peter Vallentyne that combine self-ownership with an egalitarian approach to natural resources ; it
6800-505: Is the political position that considers them to be originally unowned and therefore may be appropriated at-will by private parties without the consent of, or owing to, others. Followers of Samuel Edward Konkin III , who characterized agorism as a form of left-libertarianism and strategic branch of left-wing market anarchism , use the terminology as outlined by Roderick T. Long, who describes left-libertarianism as "an integration, or I'd argue,
6970-413: Is true that the word "liberal" once described persons who respected the individual and feared the use of mass compulsions. But the leftists have now corrupted that once-proud term to identify themselves and their program of more government ownership of property and more controls over persons. As a result, those of us who believe in freedom must explain that when we call ourselves liberals, we mean liberals in
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7140-626: The Journal of Libertarian Studies published by the Mises Institute was dedicated to reviews of Kevin Carson 's Studies in Mutualist Political Economy . One variety of this kind of libertarianism has been a resurgent mutualism, incorporating modern economic ideas such as marginal utility theory into mutualist theory. Carson's Studies in Mutualist Political Economy helped to stimulate
7310-469: The 2007–2008 financial crisis . The crisis in 2008 also made Ben Bernanke create a pseudonym, Edward Quince. According to the Wall Street Journal, the false name was evidence in a class-action lawsuit against the government by shareholders of AIG, which had been given a Fed-backed bailout when it was near collapse. One of Mr. Quince's emails reads, "We think they are days from failure. They think it
7480-410: The 2007–2008 financial crisis . According to The New York Times , Bernanke "has been attacked for failing to foresee the financial crisis, for bailing out Wall Street, and, most recently, for injecting an additional $ 600 billion into the banking system to give the slow recovery a boost." In a letter to Congress from then- New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo dated April 23, 2009, Bernanke
7650-460: The 2008 U.S. presidential election , Cato scholars criticized both major-party candidates, John McCain and Barack Obama . Cato has criticized President Obama's stances on policy issues such as fiscal stimulus , healthcare reform , foreign policy , and drug-related matters, while supporting his stance on the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell and the DREAM Act . American libertarian In
7820-779: The 2016 presidential election , many Tea Party members eventually abandoned more libertarian-leaning views in favor of Donald Trump and his right-wing populism . Additionally, the Tea Party was considered to be a key force in Republicans reclaiming control of the House of Representatives in 2010. Texas Congressman Ron Paul's 1988 , 2008 and 2012 campaigns for the Republican Party presidential nomination were largely libertarian. Along with Goldwater and others, Paul popularized laissez-faire economics and libertarian rhetoric in opposition to interventionism and worked to pass some reforms. Likewise, California Governor and future President of
7990-760: The Ayn Rand Institute (ARI) improved with the nomination of Cato's new president John A. Allison IV in 2012. He is a former ARI board member and is reported to be an "ardent devotee" of Rand who has promoted reading her books to colleges nationwide. In March 2015, Allison retired as president, remaining on the board; he was succeeded by Peter Goettler. The Cato Institute advocates policies that advance "individual liberty , limited government , free markets , and peace ". They are libertarian in their policy positions, typically advocating diminished government intervention in domestic, social, and economic policies and decreased military and political intervention worldwide. Cato
8160-509: The Bernanke doctrine . As a member of the board of governors of the Federal Reserve System on February 20, 2004, Bernanke gave a speech in which he postulated that we are in a new era called the Great Moderation , where modern macroeconomic policy has decreased the volatility of the business cycle to the point that it should no longer be a central issue in economics. In June 2005, Bernanke
8330-470: The Black Power movement . Rothbard argued that the consensus view of American economic history, according to which a beneficent government has used its power to counter corporate predation, is fundamentally flawed. Rather, he argued that government intervention in the economy has largely benefited established players at the expense of marginalized groups, to the detriment of both liberty and equality. Moreover,
8500-728: The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System , proposed the Bernanke doctrine , and first discussed " the Great Moderation "—the theory that traditional business cycles have declined in volatility in recent decades through structural changes that have occurred in the international economy, particularly increases in the economic stability of developing nations, diminishing the influence of macroeconomic (monetary and fiscal) policy. Bernanke then served as chairman of President George W. Bush 's Council of Economic Advisers before President Bush nominated him to succeed Alan Greenspan as chairman of
8670-484: The Bush tax cuts , Bernanke, when questioned about taxation policy, said that it was none of his business, his exclusive remit being monetary policy, and said that fiscal policy and wider society related issues were what politicians were for and got elected for. But Bernanke has been identified by The Wall Street Journal and a close colleague as a "libertarian-Republican" in the mold of Alan Greenspan. In 2005 Bernanke coined
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#17328455961198840-729: The Daily Kos proposed the term " Libertarian Democrat " to describe his particular liberal position, suggesting that libertarians should be allies of the Democratic Party. Replying, Cato's vice president for research Brink Lindsey agreed that libertarians and liberals should view each other as natural ideological allies, and noted continuing differences between mainstream liberal views on economic policy and Cato's " Jeffersonian philosophy ". Some Cato scholars disagree with conservatives on neo-conservative foreign policy, albeit that this has not always been uniform. The relationship between Cato and
9010-572: The Democratic and Republican parties while others are independent . Gallup found that voters who identify as libertarians ranged from 17 to 23% of the American electorate. Yellow , a political color associated with liberalism worldwide , has also been used as a political color for modern libertarianism in the United States. The Gadsden flag and Pine Tree flag , symbols first used by American revolutionaries , are frequently used by libertarians and
9180-576: The Department of Economics there from 1996 to September 2002, when he went on public service leave. Bernanke was awarded the 2022 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences , jointly with Douglas Diamond and Philip H. Dybvig , "for research on banks and financial crises", more specifically for his analysis of the Great Depression . From August 5, 2002, until June 21, 2005, he was a member of
9350-429: The Department of Economics . He chaired that department from 1996 until September 2002, when he went on public service leave. He resigned his position at Princeton July 1, 2005. Bernanke served as a member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System from 2002 to 2005. In one of his first speeches as a governor, entitled "Deflation: Making Sure It Doesn't Happen Here", he outlined what has been referred to as
9520-641: The Federal Reserve system and the Affordable Care Act , the privatization of numerous government agencies and programs including Social Security and the United States Postal Service , demilitarization of the police, open borders and adhering to a non-interventionist foreign policy. According to the 2019 Global Go to Think Tank Index Report (revised June 2020, Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program , University of Pennsylvania ), Cato
9690-561: The Foundation for Economic Education ) and the European immigrants Ludwig von Mises and Ayn Rand carried on the intellectual libertarian tradition. In fiction, one can cite the work of the science fiction author Robert A. Heinlein , whose writing carried libertarian underpinnings. Mencken and Nock were the first prominent figures in the United States to privately call themselves libertarians. They believed Franklin D. Roosevelt had co-opted
9860-888: The Libertarian Review Foundation ) Literature of Liberty (from 1978 to 1979 before transferring it to the Institute for Humane Studies , which ended its publication in 1982). Cato also co-publishes the annual Human Freedom Index with the Fraser Institute , and is the co-publisher with Fraser of the U.S. edition of the Economic Freedom of the World annual report. In addition to maintaining its own website in English and Spanish, Cato maintains websites focused on particular topics: The Cato Institute hosts conferences throughout
10030-641: The Mises Caucus , a paleolibertarian faction, became the dominant faction on the Libertarian National Committee. A variant of non-intellectual right-libertarianism that has been described as "growing in prominence", "changing the dynamics" of the conservative movement in the U.S., and even "largely defin[ing] the Republican coalition" in the 2020s, has been dubbed " Barstool conservatism ". First coined in 2021 by journalist Rod Matthew Walther,
10200-406: The Reagan administration . Rothbard argued that the presidency of Reagan has been "a disaster for libertarianism in the United States" and Paul described Reagan himself as "a dramatic failure". In the 21st century, libertarian groups have been successful in advocating tax cuts and regulatory reform. While some argue that the American public as a whole shifted away from libertarianism following
10370-570: The Tea Party movement (founded in 2009) which has become a major outlet for libertarian Republican ideas, especially rigorous adherence to the Constitution, lower taxes and an opposition to a growing role for the federal government in health care. However, polls show that many people who identify as Tea Party members do not hold traditional libertarian views on most social issues and tend to poll similarly to socially conservative Republicans. During
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#173284559611910540-566: The Torah scrolls in his local synagogue. Although he keeps his beliefs private, his friend Mark Gertler , chairman of New York University's economics department, says they are "embedded in who he (Bernanke) is." Once Bernanke was at Harvard for his freshman year, fellow Dillon native Kenneth Manning took him to Brookline for Rosh Hashanah services. Bernanke was educated at East Elementary, J.V. Martin Junior High, and Dillon High School , where he
10710-511: The Vietnam War and its opposition . These radicals had long embraced a reading of American history that emphasized the role of elite privilege in shaping legal and political institutions, one that was naturally agreeable to many on the left, increasingly seeking alliances with the left, especially with members of the New Left, in light of the Vietnam War, the military draft and the emergence of
10880-654: The consent of the governed . That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it". According to American historian Bernard Bailyn , during and after the American Revolution , "the major themes of eighteenth-century libertarianism were brought to realization" in constitutions , bills of rights , and limits on legislative and executive powers, including limits on starting wars. According to Murray Rothbard ,
11050-585: The fall of the Soviet Union , citing the success of multinational organizations such as NAFTA and the increasingly interdependent global financial system , others argue that libertarian ideas have moved so far into the mainstream that many Americans who do not identify as libertarian now hold libertarian views. Circa 2006 polls find that the views and voting habits of between 10 and 20 percent (increasing) of voting age Americans may be classified as "fiscally conservative and socially liberal, or libertarian". This
11220-525: The federal funds rate below what it had done. For example, Larry Summers , later named Director of the White House's National Economic Council under President Obama, wrote in the Financial Times on November 26, 2007—in a column in which he argued that recession was likely—that "maintaining demand must be the over-arching macro-economic priority. That means the Federal Reserve System has to get ahead of
11390-608: The labor theory of value in favor of Austrian School economics and the subjective theory of value ; the libertarianism developed in the 1970s by Robert Nozick and founded in American and European classical liberal traditions; and the libertarianism associated with the Libertarian Party , which was founded in 1971, including politicians such as David Nolan and Ron Paul . The right-libertarianism associated with people such as Murray Rothbard and Robert Nozick, whose book Anarchy, State, and Utopia received significant attention in academia according to David Lewis Schaefer,
11560-428: The political spectrum (especially the left–right political spectrum ) whilst denying any association with both the political right and left, other libertarians such as Kevin Carson , Karl Hess , Roderick T. Long and Sheldon Richman have written about libertarianism's left-wing opposition to authoritarian rule and argued that libertarianism is fundamentally a left-wing position. Rothbard himself previously made
11730-453: The robber baron period, hailed by the right and despised by the left as a heyday of laissez-faire , was not characterized by laissez-faire at all, but it was in fact a time of massive state privilege accorded to capital. In tandem with his emphasis on the intimate connection between state and corporate power , he defended the seizure of corporations dependent on state largesse by workers and others. This tradition would continue through
11900-410: The state as an unnecessary evil; minarchists such as Nozick who recognize the necessary need for a minimal state, often referred to as a night-watchman state ; and classical liberals who support a minimized small government and a major reversal of the welfare state . The major libertarian party in the United States is the Libertarian Party . However, libertarians are also represented within
12070-554: The state , typically opposes Counter-Economics , either opposes the Libertarian Party or works to drag it right and prefers coalitions with supposedly ' free-market ' conservatives ". While holding that the important distinction for libertarians is not left or right, but whether they are "government apologists who use libertarian rhetoric to defend state aggression", Anthony Gregory describes left-libertarianism as maintaining interest in personal freedom , having sympathy for egalitarianism and opposing social hierarchy , preferring
12240-480: The "national interest". Christopher Preble has said that the "scare campaign" to protect military spending from cuts under the Budget Control Act of 2011 has backfired. Cato's foreign and defense policies are guided by the view that the United States is relatively secure and so should engage the world, trade freely, and work with other countries on common concerns—but avoid trying to dominate it militarily. As
12410-715: The 19th century, libertarian philosophies included libertarian socialism and anarchist schools of thought such as individualist and social anarchism . Key libertarian thinkers included Benjamin Tucker , Lysander Spooner , Stephen Pearl Andrews and William Batchelder Greene , among others. While most of these anarchist thinkers advocated for the abolition of the state, other key libertarian thinkers and writers such as Henry David Thoreau , Ralph Waldo Emerson and Spooner in No Treason: The Constitution of No Authority argued that government should be kept to
12580-486: The 19th century, the term libertarian has referred to advocates for freedom of the will, or anyone who generally advocated for liberty, but its long association with anarchism extends at least as far back as 1858, when it was used for the title of New York anarchist journal Le Libertaire . In the late 19th century (around the 1880s and 1890s), Anarchist Sébastien Faure used the term libertarian to differentiate between anarchists and authoritarian socialists . While
12750-456: The 20th and 21st centuries, being taken up by the left-libertarian, free-market anti-capitalism of both Samuel Edward Konkin III 's agorism and left-wing market anarchism . During the mid-20th century, many with Old Right or classical liberal beliefs began to describe themselves as libertarians. Important American writers such as Rose Wilder Lane , H. L. Mencken , Albert Jay Nock , Isabel Paterson , Leonard Read (the founder of
12920-492: The AIG bailout". Republican Senator Jim Bunning of Kentucky said on CNBC that he had seen documents which show that Bernanke overruled recommendations from his staff in bailing out AIG. The columnist says this raises questions as to whether or not the decision to bail out AIG was necessary. Senators from both parties who support Bernanke say his actions averted worse problems and outweighed whatever responsibility this may have created for
13090-563: The Cato Institute by the board. That same year, Cato relocated to Washington, D.C. , settling initially in a historic house on Capitol Hill . The institute moved to its current location on Massachusetts Avenue in 1993. In 2009, Cato Institute was ranked the fifth-ranked think tank in the world in a study of think tanks by James G. McGann, at the University of Pennsylvania , based on a criterion of excellence in "producing rigorous and relevant research, publications and programs in one or more substantive areas of research". The Cato Institute had
13260-551: The Federal Reserve from 2006 to 2014. After leaving the Federal Reserve, he was appointed a distinguished fellow at the Brookings Institution . During his tenure as chairman, Bernanke oversaw the Federal Reserve 's response to the 2007–2008 financial crisis , for which he was named the 2009 Time Person of the Year . Before becoming Federal Reserve chairman, Bernanke was a tenured professor at Princeton University and chaired
13430-499: The Federal Reserve in his 2015 book, The Courage to Act , in which he revealed that the world's economy came close to collapse in 2007 and 2008. Bernanke asserts that it was only the novel efforts of the Fed (cooperating with other US agencies and agencies of other governments) that prevented an economic catastrophe greater than the Great Depression . Bernanke was born in Augusta, Georgia , and
13600-443: The Federal Reserve. Bernanke focused less on the role of the Federal Reserve and more on the role of private banks and financial institutions. Bernanke found that the financial disruptions of 1930–33 reduced the efficiency of the credit allocation process; and that the resulting higher cost and reduced availability of credit acted to depress aggregate demand, identifying an effect he called the financial accelerator . When faced with
13770-540: The Federal Reserve. I would like to say to Milton and Anna [Schwartz, Friedman's coauthor]: Regarding the Great Depression, you're right. We did it. We're very sorry. But thanks to you, we won't do it again." Bernanke has cited Milton Friedman and Anna Schwartz in his decision to lower interest rates to zero. Anna Schwartz, however, was highly critical of Bernanke and wrote an opinion piece in The New York Times advising Obama against his reappointment as chairman of
13940-618: The Great Inflation to COVID-19, where he assesses the successes as well as failures of the Federal Reserve since its inception. The book received a positive review from the New York Times saying the "book is intended to help future generations of economic policymakers, and it probably will." Bernanke favors reducing the U.S. budget deficit , particularly by reforming the Social Security and Medicare entitlement programs . During
14110-769: The Kurds in the north and the Shiites in the south." But in 2002 Carpenter wrote, "the United States should not shrink from confronting al-Qaeda in its Pakistani lair," a position echoed in the institute's policy recommendations for the 108th Congress. Cato's director of foreign policy studies, Christopher Preble, argues in The Power Problem: How American Military Dominance Makes Us Less Safe, Less Prosperous, and Less Free , that America's position as an unrivaled superpower tempts policymakers to constantly overreach and to redefine ever more broadly
14280-590: The Levellers, who held similar views. Also influential were the English Cato's Letters during the early 1700s, reprinted eagerly by American colonists who already were free of European aristocracy and feudal land monopolies. In January 1776, only two years after coming to America from England, Thomas Paine published his pamphlet Common Sense calling for independence for the colonies. Paine promoted classical liberal ideas in clear and concise language that allowed
14450-606: The Libertarian Left is a left-libertarian organization that includes a multi-tendency coalition of agorists , geolibertarians , green libertarians , left-Rothbardians , minarchists , mutualists and voluntaryists . The Cato Institute is a libertarian think tank headquartered in Washington, D.C. It was founded as the Charles Koch Foundation in 1974 by Ed Crane , Murray Rothbard and Charles Koch , chairman of
14620-527: The New Deal, but by the mid-1930s the word liberalism had been widely used to mean social liberalism . The word liberal had ceased to refer to the support of individual rights and limited government and instead came to denote left-leaning ideas that would be seen elsewhere as social-democratic . American advocates of classical liberalism bemoaned the loss of the word liberal and cast about for others to replace it. In August 1953, Max Eastman proposed
14790-548: The Reagan administration's policies after Reagan's election in 1980 and later recalled being the only Republican to vote against Reagan budget proposals in 1981, aghast that "in 1977, Jimmy Carter proposed a budget with a $ 38 billion deficit, and every Republican in the House voted against it. In 1981, Reagan proposed a budget with a $ 45 billion deficit – which turned out to be $ 113 billion – and Republicans were cheering his great victory. They were living in
14960-416: The Right [today] are run by economically liberal conservatives who, in varying degrees, have marginalized social , cultural , and national conservatives ". Academics as well as proponents of the capitalist free-market perspectives note that libertarianism has spread beyond the United States since the 1970s via think tanks and political parties and that libertarianism is increasingly viewed as
15130-399: The U.S. edition of the Economic Freedom of the World annual report (1996–). Cato argues that most Americans are immigrants or descended from immigrants who sought opportunity and freedom on American shores, and they believe that this continues today with immigrants continuing to become Americans, making the United States a wealthier, freer, and safer country. Cato's research indicates that
15300-506: The United States Ronald Reagan appealed to cultural conservative libertarians due its social conservatism and in a 1975 interview with Reason stated: "I believe the very heart and soul of conservatism is libertarianism". However, many libertarians are ambivalent about Reagan's legacy as president due its social conservatism and how the Reagan administration turned the United States' big trade deficit into debt, making
15470-484: The United States Federal Reserve . His first term began on February 1, 2006. Bernanke was confirmed for a second term as chairman on January 28, 2010, after being renominated by President Barack Obama , who later referred to him as "the epitome of calm." His second term ended on January 31, 2014, when he was succeeded by Janet Yellen on February 3, 2014. Bernanke wrote about his time as chairman of
15640-576: The United States Constitution to prohibit same-sex marriage ; the amendment failed in both houses of Congress. A 2006 Cato report by Radley Balko strongly criticized U.S. drug policy and the perceived growing militarization of U.S. law enforcement. A 2006 study criticized the Digital Millennium Copyright Act . Cato supports same-sex marriage and filed an amicus brief in the case of Obergefell v. Hodges supporting
15810-647: The United States a debtor nation for the first time since World War I. Ron Paul was affiliated with the libertarian-leaning Republican Liberty Caucus and founded the Campaign for Liberty , a libertarian-leaning membership and lobbying organization. Rand Paul is a Senator who continues the tradition of his father Ron Paul, albeit more moderately as he has described himself as a constitutional conservative and has both embraced and rejected libertarianism. Since 2012, former New Mexico Governor and two-time Libertarian Party presidential nominee Gary Johnson has been one of
15980-448: The United States from Przemyśl , Poland , and arrived at Ellis Island , aged 30, on June 30, 1921, with his wife Pauline, aged 25. On the ship's manifest, Jonas's occupation is listed as "clerk" and Pauline's as "doctor med". The family moved to Dillon from New York in the 1940s. Bernanke's mother gave up her job as a schoolteacher when her son was born and worked at the family drugstore. Ben Bernanke also worked there sometimes. As
16150-490: The United States, libertarianism is a political philosophy promoting individual liberty . According to common meanings of conservatism and liberalism in the United States, libertarianism has been described as conservative on economic issues ( fiscal conservatism ) and liberal on personal freedom ( cultural liberalism ), often associated with a foreign policy of non-interventionism . Broadly, there are four principal traditions within libertarianism, namely
16320-655: The abandonment of the Republican energy bill, arguing that it had become little more than a gravy train for Washington, D.C., lobbyists. Again in 2005, Cato scholar Jerry Taylor teamed up with Daniel Becker of the Sierra Club to attack the Republican Energy Bill as a give-away to corporate interests. In 2003, Cato filed an amicus brief in support of the Supreme Court's decision in Lawrence v. Texas , which struck down
16490-469: The arguments offered to justify the 2003 invasion of Iraq. One of the war's earliest critics, Carpenter wrote in January 2002: "Ousting Saddam would make Washington responsible for Iraq's political future and entangle the United States in an endless nation-building mission beset by intractable problems." Carpenter also predicted: "Most notably there is the issue posed by two persistent regional secession movements:
16660-401: The board and chief executive officer of the conglomerate Koch Industries , the second largest privately held company by revenue in the United States. In July 1976, the name was changed to the Cato Institute. Ben Bernanke Ben Shalom Bernanke ( / b ər ˈ n æ ŋ k i / bər- NANG -kee ; born December 13, 1953) is an American economist who served as the 14th chairman of
16830-546: The board and the management [of Bank of America]." In further testimony, Bernanke said the Fed did nothing illegal or unethical in its efforts to convince Bank of America not to end the merger. Lewis told the panel that authorities expressed "strong views" but said he would not characterize their stance as improper. According to a January 26, 2010, column in The Huffington Post , a whistleblower has disclosed documents providing " 'troubling details' of Bernanke's role in
17000-526: The business news, Bernanke gave a speech about the topic. In that speech, he mentioned that the government in a fiat money system owns the physical means of creating money and to maintain market liquidity . Control of the money supply implies that the government can always avoid deflation by simply issuing more money. He said, "The U.S. government has a technology, called a printing press (or today, its electronic equivalent), that allows it to produce as many U.S. dollars as it wishes at no cost." He referred to
17170-468: The consequentialist libertarianism as promoted by Hayek, Mark Bevir holds that there is also left and right libertarianism. Left-libertarianism and right-libertarianism is a categorization used by some political analysts, academics and media sources in the United States to contrast related yet distinct approaches to libertarian philosophy. Peter Vallentyne defines right-libertarianism as holding that unowned natural resources "may be appropriated by
17340-527: The contemporary vibrancy of the ideas of freedom. According to Cato's mission statement, the Jeffersonian philosophy that animates Cato's work has increasingly come to be called 'libertarianism' or 'market liberalism.' It combines an appreciation for entrepreneurship, the market process, and lower taxes with strict respect for civil liberties and skepticism about the benefits of both the welfare state and foreign military adventurism. In 2006, Markos Moulitsas of
17510-562: The created money to buy financial assets from banks and from the government. On August 25, 2009, President Obama announced he would nominate Bernanke to a second term as chairman of the Federal Reserve. In a short statement on Martha's Vineyard, with Bernanke standing at his side, Obama said Bernanke's background, temperament, courage and creativity helped to prevent another Great Depression in 2008. When Senate Banking Committee hearings on his nomination began on December 3, 2009, several senators from both parties indicated they would not support
17680-402: The credit market and stagnation in investment spending. In addition to stressed credit markets, the failing gold standard also played a crucial role. After World War 1 most countries had their currencies tied to gold as well as fixed exchange rates, however, post-war animosity between many European nations led to non-cooperation regarding the gold standard. Consequently, the gold standard failed in
17850-529: The current US immigration system excludes the most peaceful and healthy immigrants, and urges policymakers to expand and deregulate legal immigration. Further, Cato supports open borders . Cato scholars were critical of George W. Bush 's Republican administration (2001–2009) on several issues, including education, and excessive government spending . On other issues, they supported Bush administration initiatives, most notably health care, Social Security , global warming , tax policy , and immigration . During
18020-558: The curve and recognize—as the market already has—that levels of the Federal Funds rate that were neutral when the financial system was working normally are quite contractionary today." David Leonhardt of The New York Times wrote, on January 30, 2008, that "Dr. Bernanke's forecasts have been too sunny over the last six months. [On] the other hand, his forecast was a lot better than Wall Street's in mid-2006. Back then, he resisted calls for further interest rate increases because he thought
18190-413: The denial machine", that rejects global warming . PolitiFact.com and Scientific American have called Cato's work on global warming "false" and based on " data selection ". A December 2003 Cato panel included Patrick Michaels , Robert Balling and John Christy . Michaels, Balling and Christy agreed that global warming is related at least some degree to human activity but that many scientists and
18360-482: The dominant monetarist theory of the Great Depression was Milton Friedman's view that it had been largely caused by the Federal Reserve 's having reduced the money supply and has on several occasions argued that one of the biggest mistakes made during the period was to raise interest rates too early. In a speech on Milton Friedman's ninetieth birthday (November 8, 2002), Bernanke said: "Let me end my talk by abusing slightly my status as an official representative of
18530-481: The economy might be weakening." In a speech at the American Economics Association conference in January 2014, Bernanke reflected on his tenure as chairman of the Federal Reserve. He expressed his hope that economic growth was building momentum and stated that he was confident that the central bank would be able to withdraw its support smoothly. In an October 2014 speech, Bernanke disclosed that he
18700-572: The electorate. While libertarians make up a larger portion of the electorate than the much-discussed "soccer moms" and "NASCAR dads", this is not widely recognized as most of these vote for Democratic and Republican party candidates, leading some libertarians to believe that dividing people's political leanings into "conservative", "liberal" and "confused" is not valid. In the United States, libertarians may emphasize economic and constitutional rather than religious and personal policies, or personal and international rather than economic policies such as
18870-400: The establishment was withholding it. They argue this shift in concerns helped cause Thatcherism and was incorporated into Thatcherism's appeal. Since the resurgence of neoliberalism in the 1970s, this form of libertarianism has spread beyond North America and Europe, having been more successful at spreading worldwide than other conservative ideas. It has been noted that "[m]ost parties of
19040-584: The few Jewish families in Dillon and attended Ohav Shalom, a local synagogue; Bernanke learned Hebrew as a child from his maternal grandfather, Harold Friedman, a professional hazzan (cantor), shochet , and Hebrew teacher. Bernanke's father and uncle owned and managed a drugstore they purchased from Bernanke's paternal grandfather, Jonas Bernanke. Jonas Bernanke was born in Boryslav , Austria-Hungary (today part of Ukraine ), on January 23, 1891. He immigrated to
19210-502: The first person who discovers them, mixes her labor with them, or merely claims them—without the consent of others, and with little or no payment to them". He contrasts this with left-libertarianism, where such "unappropriated natural resources belong to everyone in some egalitarian manner". Similarly, Charlotte and Lawrence Becker maintain that left-libertarianism most often refers to the political position that holds natural resources are originally common property while right-libertarianism
19380-570: The former president's calls for larger ethanol subsidies. With regard to the "Takings Clause" of the United States Constitution and environmental protection, libertarians associated with Cato contended in 2003 that the Constitution is not adequate to guarantee the protection of private property rights. In 2019, Cato closed its "Center for the Study of Science", which E&E News characterized as "a program that for years sought to raise uncertainty about climate science" after its head Pat Michaels had left
19550-563: The future chief executive officer of Goldman Sachs , Lloyd Blankfein , and graduated Phi Beta Kappa with an A.B. degree, and later with an A.M. in economics summa cum laude in 1975. He received a Ph.D. degree in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1979 after completing and defending his dissertation, Long-Term Commitments, Dynamic Optimization, and the Business Cycle . Bernanke's thesis adviser
19720-624: The general public to understand the debates among the political elites. Common Sense was immensely popular in disseminating these ideas, selling hundreds of thousands of copies. Paine would later write the Rights of Man and The Age of Reason and participate in the French Revolution . Paine's theory of property showed a "libertarian concern" with the redistribution of resources. Progressive Era Repression and persecution Anti-war and civil rights movements Contemporary In
19890-462: The growth of new-style mutualism, articulating a version of the labor theory of value incorporating ideas drawn from Austrian economics. In 2022, the term kremlintarian emerged as a description of an individual claiming libertarian identity while defending the behavior of totalitarian regimes. There are broadly two ethical viewpoints within libertarianism, namely consequentialist libertarianism and deontological libertarianism . The first type
20060-400: The individual right to liberty. He argues that, as the term "liberalism" became increasingly associated with government intervention in the economy and social welfare programs, some classical liberals abandoned the old term and began to call themselves “ libertarians ”. Officially, Cato admits that the term “classical liberal” comes close to the mark of labeling its position, but fails to capture
20230-417: The institute over disagreements, along with his collaborator Ryan Maue, a meteorologist. By that time, the Cato Institute was also no longer affiliated with its former distinguished fellow Richard Lindzen , another denier of the scientific consensus on climate change . Cato's scholars seek to advance policies and support institutions in developing and developed countries that protect human rights and extend
20400-471: The label libertarian and harshly denounced the libertarian movement as the "hippies of the right". Nonetheless, philosopher John Hospers , a one-time member of Rand's inner circle, proposed a non-initiation of force principle to unite both groups—this statement later became a required pledge for candidates of the Libertarian Party and Hospers himself became its first presidential candidate in 1972. Along with Isabel Paterson and Rose Wilder Lane , Rand
20570-519: The latter exempts power wielded through free-market capitalism . Historically, libertarians including Herbert Spencer and Max Stirner have to some degree supported the protection of an individual's freedom from powers of both government and private property owners. In contrast, while condemning governmental encroachment on personal liberties, some modern American libertarians support freedoms based on private property rights. Anarcho-capitalist theorist Murray Rothbard argued that protesters should rent
20740-399: The left should reclaim libertarian as a term, suggesting these other self-declared libertarians to rename themselves propertarians instead. Although all libertarians oppose government intervention, there is a division between those anarchist or socialist libertarians as well as anarcho-capitalists such as Rothbard and David D. Friedman who adhere to the anti-state position, viewing
20910-442: The legitimacy of libertarianism as a political theory in the world of academia". British historians Emily Robinson, Camilla Schofield, Florence Sutcliffe-Braithwaite and Natalie Thomlinson have argued that by the 1970s Britons were keen about defining and claiming their individual rights, identities and perspectives. They demanded greater personal autonomy and self-determination and less outside control. They angrily complained that
21080-568: The libertarian creed emerged from the classical liberal challenges to an "absolute central State and a king ruling by divine right on top of an older, restrictive web of feudal land monopolies and urban guild controls and restrictions" as well as the mercantilism of a bureaucratic warfaring state allied with privileged merchants. The object of classical liberals was individual liberty in the economy, in personal freedoms and civil liberty, separation of state and religion and peace as an alternative to imperial aggrandizement. He cites Locke's contemporaries,
21250-513: The libertarian-leaning Tea Party movement . Although libertarian continues to be widely used to refer to anti-state socialists internationally, its meaning in the United States has deviated from its political origins to the extent that the common meaning of libertarian in the United States is different from elsewhere. The Libertarian Party asserts the following core beliefs of libertarianism: "Libertarians support maximum liberty in both personal and economic matters. They advocate
21420-511: The libertarianism that developed in the mid-20th century out of the revival tradition of classical liberalism in the United States after liberalism associated with the New Deal ; the libertarianism developed in the 1950s by anarcho-capitalist author Murray Rothbard , who based it on the anti-New Deal Old Right and 19th-century libertarianism and American individualist anarchists such as Benjamin Tucker and Lysander Spooner while rejecting
21590-423: The market and property. In a 1975 interview with Reason , California Governor Ronald Reagan appealed to libertarians when he stated to "believe the very heart and soul of conservatism is libertarianism". Ron Paul was one of the first elected officials in the nation to support Reagan's presidential campaign and actively campaigned for Reagan in 1976 and 1980. However, Paul quickly became disillusioned with
21760-526: The media have overstated the danger. The Cato Institute has also criticized political attempts to stop global warming as expensive and ineffective. Cato scholars have been critical of the Bush administration 's views on energy policy. In 2003, Cato scholars Jerry Taylor and Peter Van Doren said the Republican Energy Bill was "hundreds of pages of corporate welfare, symbolic gestures, empty promises, and pork-barrel projects". They also spoke out against
21930-535: The media. An advocate of more transparent Fed policy and clearer statements than Greenspan had made, he had to back away from his initial idea of stating clearer inflation goals as such statements tended to affect the stock market. Maria Bartiromo disclosed on CNBC comments from their private conversation at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner . She reported that Bernanke said investors had misinterpreted his comments as indicating that he
22100-740: The merger by invoking the " Material Adverse Change " (MAC) clause, Paulson immediately called Lewis to a meeting in Washington. At the meeting, which allegedly took place on December 21, 2008, Paulson told Lewis that he and the board would be replaced if they invoked the MAC clause and additionally not to reveal the extent of the losses to shareholders. Paulson stated to Cuomo's office that he was directed by Bernanke to threaten Lewis in this manner. Congressional hearings into these allegations were conducted on June 25, 2009, with Bernanke testifying that he did not bully Lewis. Under intense questioning by members of Congress, Bernanke said, "I never said anything about firing
22270-457: The organization from conservatives. The burning of a draft card in protest to a conservative proposal against draft resistance sparked physical confrontations among convention attendees, a walkout by a large number of libertarians, the creation of libertarian organizations like the Society for Individual Liberty and efforts to recruit potential libertarians from conservative organizations. The split
22440-947: The organization to lose nearly $ 1 million in funding), President Bill Clinton 's interventions in Haiti and Kosovo , President George W. Bush's 2003 invasion of Iraq , and President Barack Obama's 2011 military intervention in Libya . As a response to the September 11 attacks , Cato scholars supported the removal of al Qaeda and the Taliban regime from power , but are against an indefinite and open-ended military occupation of Afghanistan. Cato scholars criticized U.S. involvement in Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen . Ted Galen Carpenter, Cato's vice president for defense and foreign policy studies, criticized many of
22610-691: The plan might have to wait until the economic outlook improves. His remarks were most likely intended for the federal government's executive and legislative branches, since entitlement reform is a fiscal exercise that will be accomplished by the Congress and the President rather than a monetary task falling within the implementation powers of the Federal Reserve. Bernanke also pointed out that deficit reduction will necessarily consist of either raising taxes, cutting entitlement payments and other government spending , or some combination of both. In 2022 Bernanke
22780-472: The practice of public officials funneling taxpayer money, usually via targeted budgetary spending, to politically connected corporate interests. Cato has published strong criticisms of the 1998 settlement which many U.S. states signed with the tobacco industry . Cato president Ed Crane and Sierra Club executive director Carl Pope co-wrote a 2002 op-ed piece in The Washington Post calling for
22950-512: The privatization of many government services and institutions, including NASA , Social Security , the United States Postal Service , the Transportation Security Administration , public schooling , public transportation systems, and public broadcasting . The institute opposes minimum wage laws, saying that they violate the freedom of contract and thus private property rights, and increase unemployment. The institute
23120-424: The public faces of the libertarian movement. The 2016 Libertarian National Convention saw Johnson and Bill Weld nominated as the 2016 presidential ticket and resulted in the most successful result for a third-party presidential candidacy since 1996 and the best in the Libertarian Party's history by vote number. Johnson received 3% of the popular vote, amounting to more than 4.3 million votes. Johnson expressed
23290-566: The purpose of employment in the U.S. In 2004, the institute published a paper arguing in favor of "drug reimportation". In 2006, the Cato Institute published a study proposing a Balanced Budget Veto Amendment to the United States Constitution . In 2006, Cato published a Policy Analysis criticising the Federal Marriage Amendment as unnecessary, anti-federalist, and anti-democratic. The amendment would have changed
23460-405: The range of personal choices. In particular, Cato's research explores the central role that freedom in its various dimensions—economic, civil, and personal—plays in human progress and in solving some of the world's most pressing problems, including global poverty. To this end Cato co-publishes the annual Human Freedom Index (2015–) with the Fraser Institute and is the co-publisher with Fraser of
23630-616: The remaining state laws that made private, non-commercial homosexual relations between consenting adults illegal. Cato cited the 14th Amendment , among other things, as the source of their support for the ruling. The amicus brief was cited in Justice Kennedy's majority opinion for the Court. In 2004, Cato scholar Daniel Griswold wrote in support of President George W. Bush's failed proposal to grant temporary work visas to otherwise undocumented laborers which would have granted limited residency for
23800-466: The repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell and laws restricting consensual sexual activity. The Cato Institute officially resists being labeled as part of the conservative movement because "'conservative' smacks of an unwillingness to change, of a desire to preserve the status quo". Cato has strong ties to the political philosophy of classical liberalism . According to executive vice president David Boaz , libertarians are classical liberals who strongly emphasize
23970-487: The repeal of the Federal Election Campaign Act . Cato is a fierce foe of the war on drugs , arguing that consenting adults have the right to put any substance they wish to in their bodies and that drug prohibition drives mass incarceration while fueling violent competition between gangs and failing to prevent drug abuse. Cato has published numerous studies criticizing what it calls " corporate welfare ",
24140-453: The role of the private sector in the economy and society. This is unlike the common meaning of libertarianism elsewhere, with libertarianism being used to refer to the largely overlapping right-libertarianism , the most popular conception of libertarianism in the United States, where the term itself was first coined and used by Joseph Déjacque to refer to a new political philosophy rejecting all authority and hierarchies, including
24310-777: The same point, rejecting the association of statism with the left. Thin and thick libertarianism are two kinds of libertarianism. Thin libertarianism deals with legal issues involving the non-aggression principle only and would permit a person to speak against other groups as long as they did not support the initiation of force against others. Walter Block is an advocate of thin libertarianism. Jeffrey Tucker describes thin libertarianism as "brutalism" which he compares unfavorably to "humanitarianism". Thick libertarianism goes further to also cover moral issues. Charles W. Johnson describes four kinds of thickness, namely thickness for application, thickness from grounds, strategic thickness and thickness from consequences. Thick libertarianism
24480-400: The seventeenth century English Levellers and the eighteenth century French Encyclopedists among their ideological forebears; and [...] usually share an admiration for Thomas Jefferson and Thomas Paine ". The United States Declaration of Independence was inspired by Locke in its statement: "[T]o secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from
24650-468: The term libertarian socialist to avoid anarchism's negative connotations and emphasize its connections with socialism . The revival of free-market ideologies during the mid-to-late 20th century came with disagreement over what to call the movement. While many of its adherents prefer the term libertarian , many conservative libertarians reject the term's association with the 1960s New Left and its connotations of libertine hedonism . The movement
24820-457: The term libertarian has been largely synonymous with anarchism , its meaning has more recently diluted with wider adoption from ideologically disparate groups. As a term, libertarian can include both the New Left and libertarian Marxists (who do not associate with a vanguard party ) as well as extreme liberals (primarily concerned with civil liberties ). Additionally, some anarchists use
24990-512: The term libertarian was Murray Rothbard , who started publishing libertarian works in the 1960s. Before the 1950s, H.L. Mencken and Albert Jay Nock had been the first prominent figures in the United States to privately call themselves libertarians. In the 1950s, Russian-American novelist Ayn Rand developed a philosophical system called Objectivism , expressed in her novels The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged as well as other works which influenced many libertarians. However, she rejected
25160-476: The term saving glut , the idea that relatively high level of worldwide savings was holding down interest rates and financing the current account deficits of the United States. (Alternative reasons include relatively low worldwide investment coupled with low U.S. savings.) As the recession began in 2007, many economists urged Bernanke (and the rest of the Federal Open Market Committee ) to lower
25330-418: The term describes a movement whose primary base of support is young non-religious males, and combines total opposition to political correctness and " wokism " with the more traditional libertarian opposition to controls on the pursuits of pleasure (sex, gambling, pornography, alcohol). Anti-capitalist libertarianism has recently aroused renewed interest in the early 21st century. The Winter 2006 issue of
25500-438: The terms New Liberalism and liberal conservative which were not eventually accepted. In May 1955, the term libertarian was first publicly used in the United States as a synonym for classical liberal when writer Dean Russell (1915–1998), a colleague of Leonard Read and a classical liberal himself, proposed the libertarian solution and justified the choice of the word as follows: Many of us call ourselves "liberals." And it
25670-417: The uncorrupted classical sense. At best, this is awkward and subject to misunderstanding. Here is a suggestion: Let those of us who love liberty trade-mark and reserve for our own use the good and honorable word "libertarian". Subsequently, a growing number of Americans with classical liberal beliefs in the United States began to describe themselves as libertarian . The person most responsible for popularizing
25840-479: The war joined the draft resistance and peace movements and organizations such as Students for a Democratic Society . They began founding their own publications like Rothbard's The Libertarian Forum and organizations like the Radical Libertarian Alliance. The split was aggravated at the 1969 Young Americans for Freedom convention when more than 300 libertarians coordinated to take control of
26010-500: The word liberal for his New Deal policies which they opposed and used libertarian to signify their allegiance to individualism . In 1923, Mencken wrote: "My literary theory, like my politics, is based chiefly upon one idea, to wit, the idea of freedom. I am, in belief, a libertarian of the most extreme variety". As of the mid-20th century, no word was used to describe the ideological outlook of this group of thinkers. Most of them would have described themselves as liberals before
26180-662: The year. Topics include monetary policy, the U.S. Constitution, poverty and social welfare, technology and privacy, financial regulation, and civic culture. Speakers at past Cato Institute conferences have included Federal Reserve Chairmen Alan Greenspan and Ben Bernanke , Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Richard Clarida , International Monetary Fund Managing Director Rodrigo de Rato , Czech Republic President Václav Klaus , and Avanti Financial Group Founder and CEO Caitlin Long. Many Cato scholars have advocated support for civil liberties, liberal immigration policies, drug liberalization, and
26350-562: Was "dovish" on inflation. He was sharply criticized for making public statements about Fed direction, which he said was a "lapse in judgment." As the Great Recession deepened, Bernanke oversaw some unorthodox measures. Under his guidance, the Fed lowered its funds interest rate from 5.25% to 0.0% within less than a year. When this was considered insufficient to abate the liquidity crisis , the Fed initiated quantitative easing , creating $ 1.3 trillion from November 2008 to June 2010 and using
26520-541: Was "equal freedom for all in a free socialist society". Branches of the Libertarian League opened in a number of other American cities, including Detroit and San Francisco. It was dissolved at the end of the 1960s. The 1960s also saw an alliance between the nascent New Left and other radical libertarians who came from the Old Right tradition like Murray Rothbard , Ronald Radosh and Karl Hess in opposition to imperialism and war , especially in relation to
26690-582: Was a student of neoclassical economics and supported the subjective theory of value . Rothbard sought to meld 19th-century American individualists' advocacy of free markets and private defense with the principles of Austrian economics, arguing that there is a "scientific explanation of the workings of the free market (and of the consequences of government intervention in that market) which individualist anarchists could easily incorporate into their political and social Weltanschauung". Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater 's libertarian-oriented challenge to authority had
26860-442: Was able to serialize his book L'Humanisphère, Utopie anarchique ( The Humanisphere: Anarchic Utopia ) in his periodical Le Libertaire, Journal du Mouvement Social ( Libertarian: Journal of Social Movement ), published in 27 issues from June 9, 1858, to February 4, 1861. Le Libertaire was the first libertarian communist journal published in the United States as well as the first anarchist journal to use libertarian . Tucker
27030-671: Was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences along with Philip H. Dybvig and Douglas Diamond . Their research suggested that the Great Depression was caused by a variety of factors including credit market stress and a failing gold standard. With a rising External Finance Premium lenders and borrowers were both inclined to protect their financial health due to stressed credit markets. Lenders began tightening credit standards and avoiding risky borrowers while borrowers withdrew their cash. These self-preservation decisions from both lenders and borrowers resulted in further stress on
27200-874: Was cited by columnist Ezra Klein as nonpartisan, saying that it is "the foremost advocate for small-government principles in American life" and it "advocates those principles when Democrats are in power, and when Republicans are in power"; and Eric Lichtblau called Cato "one of the country's most widely cited research organizations." Nina Eastman reported in 1995 that "on any given day, House Majority Whip Tom DeLay of Texas might be visiting for lunch. Or Cato staffers might be plotting strategy with House Majority Leader Dick Armey , another Texan, and his staff." Cato's non-interventionist foreign policy views, and strong support for civil liberties, have frequently led Cato scholars to criticize those in power, both Republican and Democratic. Cato scholars opposed President George H. W. Bush 's 1991 Gulf War operations (a position which caused
27370-508: Was class valedictorian and played saxophone in the marching band . Since Dillon High School did not offer calculus at the time, Bernanke taught it to himself. Bernanke scored 1590 out of 1600 on the SAT and was a National Merit Scholar . He also was a contestant in the 1965 National Spelling Bee . Bernanke entered Harvard College in 1971, where he lived in Winthrop House , as did
27540-411: Was finalized in 1971 when conservative leader William F. Buckley Jr. attempted to divorce libertarianism from the movement, writing in a New York Times article as follows: "The ideological licentiousness that rages through America today makes anarchy attractive to the simple-minded. Even to the ingeniously simple-minded". As a result of the split, a small group of Americans led by David Nolan and
27710-402: Was mentioned along with former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson in allegations of fraud concerning the acquisition of Merrill Lynch by Bank of America . The letter alleged that the extent of the losses at Merrill Lynch was not disclosed to Bank of America by Bernanke and Paulson. When Ken Lewis , the chief executive officer of Bank of America, informed Paulson that Bank of America was exiting
27880-473: Was named chairman of President George W. Bush's Council of Economic Advisers and resigned as Fed governor. The appointment was largely viewed as a test run to ascertain if Bernanke could be Bush's pick to succeed Greenspan as Fed chairman the next year. He held the post until January 2006. On February 1, 2006, Bernanke began a fourteen-year term as a member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors and
28050-459: Was number 20 in the "Top Think Tanks Worldwide" and number 13 in the "Top Think Tanks in the United States". The institute was founded in January 1977 in San Francisco , California; named at the suggestion of cofounder Rothbard after Cato's Letters , a series of British essays penned in the early 18th century by John Trenchard and Thomas Gordon . In 1981, Murray Rothbard was removed from
28220-547: Was raised on East Jefferson Street in Dillon, South Carolina . His father Philip was a pharmacist and part-time theater manager. His mother Edna was an elementary school teacher. Bernanke has two younger siblings. His brother, Seth, is a lawyer in Charlotte, North Carolina . His sister, Sharon, is a longtime administrator at Berklee College of Music in Boston. The Bernankes were one of
28390-664: Was the Director of the Monetary Economics Program of the National Bureau of Economic Research and the editor of the American Economic Review . He is among the 50 most published economists in the world according to IDEAS/RePEc . Bernanke is particularly interested in the economic and political causes of the Great Depression , on which he has published numerous academic journal articles. Before Bernanke's work,
28560-601: Was the first American born to use libertarian . By around the start of the 20th century, the heyday of individualist anarchism had passed. Moving into the 20th century, the Libertarian League was an anarchist and libertarian socialist organization. The first Libertarian League was founded in Los Angeles between the two World Wars. It was established mainly by Cassius V. Cook, Charles T. Sprading, Clarence Lee Swartz , Henry Cohen, Hans F. Rossner and Thomas Bell. In 1954,
28730-531: Was the future governor of the Bank of Israel , Stanley Fischer , and his readers included Irwin S. Bernstein, Rüdiger Dornbusch , Robert Solow , and Peter Diamond of MIT and Dale Jorgenson of Harvard. Bernanke taught at the Stanford Graduate School of Business from 1979 until 1985, was a visiting professor at New York University and went on to become a tenured professor at Princeton University in
28900-584: Was unsuccessful in efforts to refinance his home. He suggested that lenders "may have gone a little bit too far on mortgage credit conditions". Since February 2014, Bernanke has been employed as a Distinguished Fellow in Residence with the Economic Studies Program at the Brookings Institution . On April 16, 2015, it was announced publicly that Bernanke will work with Citadel , the $ 25 billion hedge fund founded by billionaire Kenneth C. Griffin , as
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