Michael D. Tanner
Cato Institute
Contact Michael
Discover and connect with journalists and influencers around the world, save time on email research, monitor the news, and more.
| Recent: |
|
| Past: |
|
Past articles by Michael:
COVID Highlights California’s Education Failures
The COVID crisis has further exposed, among other problems, the ways that California’s educational system marginalizes disadvantaged students and limits the schools that perform best for them. → Read More
What’s Going on with California’s Housing Market?
California continues to face the same underlying problem that has priced out many Californians for decades: the state has a shortage of housing units, largely because of government regulations that drive up the costs of production. → Read More
Biden's COVID Recovery Plan Has Upsides but Lacks Innovation
COVID presents a new challenge to the American economy. Falling back on the same old playbook is not going to be the answer. → Read More
‘Defund the Police’ Is a Bad Slogan, but Some Aspects Are Worth Considering
When people talk about defunding the police, they are suggesting that not every domestic disturbance, traffic mishap or truant youth needs to be confronted by someone resembling RoboCop. → Read More
Our National-Debt Problem Isn’t Going Away
The massive new spending packages Congress passed in response to the global pandemic may be necessary, but they put us farther down the road to fiscal ruin. → Read More
The COVID-19 Crisis Doesn’t Argue for Single-Payer Health Care
The American health-care system leaves much room for improvement, but Medicare for All wouldn’t have spared us the pain of this pandemic. → Read More
The COVID-19 Crisis Demands Vigilance in More Ways than One
We must do everything possible to ensure that the extraordinary policies enacted to fight the pandemic today don’t become a danger to us tomorrow. → Read More
Should Californians fix Prop. 13 or the state’s whole system of taxation?
It’s right to ask whether aspects of California’s taxation system need fixing, but let’s ask if the system as a whole is broken, rather than just Prop. 13. → Read More
Big Government Has Hurt Our Ability to Deal with This Crisis
A government that gets too big and tries to do too much often ends up losing focus and failing to do those things it really should. → Read More
The Benefits of Inequality
That lost $5 trillion is money that will not be used to buy things produced by average working Americans or, even more important, invested to create new or better jobs. → Read More
While We All Gawk at the Political Circus, Our Fiscal House Is Falling Apart
Debt and deficits are not exciting issues, but they’ll have a much bigger impact on our future than the more-entertaining political circus that captivates us all. → Read More
California Needs Housing
Unless Californians begin to face up to the basic laws of economics — such as supply and demand — the future of the Golden State looks grim. → Read More
California Needs Housing — and Won’t Get It
Califoria's politicians are determined not to make it even slightly easier to build desperately needed housing in the Golden State. → Read More
It’s a Wonderful Time to Be Alive
Politics are not our life. The people we love, our faith, our families, the things we do that bring our lives joy and meaning -- these things are far more important than politics. → Read More
Elizabeth Warren’s Untenable Plans
She has a plan for the government to tackle every problem facing the U.S., however big or small, from military housing to Puerto Rican debt to climate change. → Read More
The Moral Dimension to Our National Debt
Every child born today inherits a portion of that debt. We are living at our children’s expense. You can’t get much more “taxation without representation” than that. → Read More
Some Thoughts on the El Paso Shooting
This is a sobering time that does call for action, but we should remain reasonable and not fall prey to out of control emotions. → Read More
Donald Trump, the Profligate President
Neither the president nor his party has displayed any interest in reining in spending. → Read More
The Wrenching Reparations Question
The animating sentiment behind reparations should not be dismissed out of hand, but implementing them would only exacerbate racial tension. → Read More
The Poor Want More Opportunity, Not More Entitlement Spending
Those candidates who are calling for higher taxes, increased business regulation, and more redistribution are out of touch, not just with sound economic policy, but with the wishes of those they are trying to help. → Read More