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{{Find sources|Cato Institute}}
{{Find sources|Cato Institute}}


== Regarding the "International" subsection of the "Cato positions on political issues and policies" section ==
==Early discussion==

===Bibble; and spam links===
Geoffrey Bibble has never been on the board of directors of the Cato Institute.
Additionally, I removed two external links because neither link even mentioned the Cato Institute. Although the books that the two links were advertising may have something in them about the Cato Institute, the purpose of external links in Wikipedia is not to sell books but to give people immediate additional information. [[User:Jimbo Wales|Jimbo Wales]] 20:31, 29 Apr 2004 (UTC)

===Bad phrasing; sorry===
128.193.88.135 was right to edit my edit. To be fairer, I should have written something like "Many environmentalists oppose the Institute for its advocacy of the deregulation of industry. See reference below for an example." I shouldn't have repeated the "astroturf" allegation, since that was just one man's view (however amusingly phrased). I shall not edit any further unless I find more information or read other contributors' opinions. -- [[User:Heron|Heron]]

===Too much of a muchness===
There is no reason to cite the personal opinions of a technical support engineer in re the Cato Institute. Mike Huben does not qualify as an environmentalist, much less an expert environmentalist worthy of being cited in an encyclopedia article. Giving credit where credit is due, we should link to [http://world.std.com/~mhuben/cato.html his collection] of anti-Cato links. Nothing more; nothing less. -- [[User:Netesq|NetEsq]] 20:26 Feb 25, 2003 (UTC)

===Odd internal links===
{{User|Susan Mason}} has added bidirectional links between this article and [[Koch Industries]], but neither article gives any clue how these two organizations are related. Does anybody know? -- [[User:Heron|Heron]]

:Greg Palast must have said something about them; 'she' feels the need to vomit everything he says all over Wikipedia.

::Koch Industries has some sort of relationship with Cato, something to do with about $21,000,000 given to Cato, however Palast didnt specify too much so I didn't bother to do much more than indicate that there was a connection. [[User:Susan Mason|Susan Mason]]
::: The chairman of CEO of [[Koch Industries]] is a cofounder of the Cato Institute and I believe the Institute itself is a successor organization to a Koch foundation. They also receive a boatload of Koch money on a regular basis. [[User:Hilarious Bookbinder|Hilarious Bookbinder]] 23:26, 15 October 2007 (UTC)
----

Heron:

If I were you, I wouldn't spend too much time contemplating the merits of Susan Mason's edits. See [http://www.wikipedia.org/pipermail/wikien-l/2003-March/001607.html Problems with Susan Mason]. -- [[User:Netesq|NetEsq]] 15:18 Mar 20, 2003 (UTC)


it just so happens that koch has bought out the cato institute, and it no longer holds the entirely pure, "paleo-" libertarian positions characteristic of murray rothbard, ludwig von mises, and ron paul. actually, the cato institute does not hold positions at all, only its scholars do, as is noted [http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/2008/05/21/the-fundamental-problem/ here] and probably elsewhere on the site. unfortunately, many of the true small-government libertarians have walked out, following rothbard, leaving vacancies which are being filled by a decidedly neoconservative sort, or just those otherwise not really all that adverse to the state interfering in the "free" market (so long as it means their opinions are right). tracing this change involves a fair amount of work and i do not intend to do it myself, but any lewrockwell.com reader is probably well aware of it. [[Special:Contributions/128.128.98.46|128.128.98.46]] ([[User talk:128.128.98.46|talk]]) 22:27, 13 June 2008 (UTC)

===Cato and Objectivism===
Doesn't the Cato Institute have some connection to the [[Objectivist philosophy|Objectivists]]? - --[[User:Gwalla|Gwalla]] 02:17, 6 Jun 2004 (UTC)

:No more than any other Libertarian advocacy group does, really. --[[User:Kade|Kade]] 05:58, 13 Mar 2005 (UTC)

:: The president and founder says all the leadership are objectivists, I added it under principles. [[User:Hilarious Bookbinder|Hilarious Bookbinder]] 19:19, 13 October 2007 (UTC)

:::Do you have a citation? [[User:Binarybits|Binarybits]] 03:03, 14 October 2007 (UTC)
:::: There are now citations, enough I believe to support the assertation that the Cato Institute has significant institutional ties to the Objectivist movement. This is, imo, noteworthy. I'll also note there was a section on Objectivism previously which was also deleted by [[User:Binarybits|Binarybits]]. The former objectivism section didn't have too much to say though. Apparently there is a picture of Ayn Rand over one of their conference rooms. The only other fact was Ed Huggins (iirc) was a former Cato staffer now running some portion of the Atlas Society. Does anyone this this should be included? [[User:Hilarious Bookbinder|Hilarious Bookbinder]] 00:59, 15 October 2007 (UTC)
:::::The libertarian and Objectivist movements are profoundly interwoven. If there are sources, this is worthy of inclusion. [[User:Louislover1969|Louislover1969]] ([[User talk:Louislover1969|talk]]) 09:46, 14 April 2016 (UTC)

===Cato vs. renewable energy?===
It would be nice if some of Cato's inexplicable bias against renewable energy could be explored here. --[[User:Scruss|scruss]] 22:51, 7 Dec 2004 (UTC)

:[[User:Scruss|scruss]] could lead the way with a couple of Cato quotes downplaying some specific sources of renewable energy. We'll edit them in. --[[User:Wetman|Wetman]] 23:40, 7 Dec 2004 (UTC)

:I trust I'm not the only one who hears an alarm going off when a Wind Farm engineer proposes to throw a single bias that serves his own interest into an otherwise well-rounded article. If you want to write a section devoted to criticism of CATO, lets think a little more broadly than "They don't like my poor little wind farms". --[[User:Kade|Kade]] 05:57, 13 Mar 2005 (UTC)

::Also, it's not inexplicable it's consistent with the rest of the policies they advocate. Like other libertarians, Cato opposes government subsidies of any kind of private business. E.g. they oppose subsidies for oil exploration, mining, agriculture. It's not accurate to say their against renewable energy. They just don't want anyone forced to pay for it. --[[User:D Monack|dm]] <sup>[[User talk:D Monack|(''talk'')]]</sup> 20:51, 15 November 2006 (UTC)

funny how renewable energy is great, but only if you use the government to force it on people. they wouldn't do it themselves because it's not marketable? ''surely that can't be any kind of limitation of feasiblity.'' [[Special:Contributions/128.128.98.46|128.128.98.46]] ([[User talk:128.128.98.46|talk]]) 22:29, 13 June 2008 (UTC)

==2005 Social Security Reform Proposal==

I removed some loaded language in the article regarding Bush's 2005 Social Security Reform Proposal and added a link to back it up.

Original read:
:For their part, only a minority of Republican congressmen supported President George W. Bush’s 2005 proposal to weaken and then abolish Social Security, an idea strongly backed by the Institute.

This was an edit from an earlier version on 13 July 2007 by 198.77.206.228. I was unable to revert this edit, so I changed it to the earlier language reading,
:...President George W. Bush’s 2005 proposal to partially privatize Social Security...

I also turned "2005 proposal" into a link to the relevant page. ([[Social Security debate (United States)#Bush's proposal |2005 proposal]])

My point, in short, is that even if abolishing Social Security was Cato's goal, and perhaps even Bush's, it was not a part of the 2005 proposal.
--[[User:JohnofCharleston|JohnofCharleston]] 17:51, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

==CATO & Education Reform==

In addition to supporting a more limited government, CATO has been in the forefront of the debate on educational reform. See its forum presented in summer of 2004 and OPED articles by Marie Gryphon and others.

: I will see about trying to include some of that information. If you can provide some sources that will be faster. I can dig something up though.[[User:Louislover1969|Louislover1969]] ([[User talk:Louislover1969|talk]]) 09:48, 14 April 2016 (UTC)

==Rothbard and Cato==

Will Wilkinson, a Cato employee,[http://www.cato.org/people/wilkinson.html] has found it necessary to delete the mention of Rothbard as one of Cato's founders. I have restored this since it is inaccurate and misleading to delete it. Rothbard is mentioned [here http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig3/bergland1.html], for example, by a prominent libertarian, as "a founding board member [of Cato] who even named the institute". See also chapter 5 of Justin Raimondo's biography of Rothbard, [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1573928097 An Enemy of the State], which details the Cato Institute's origins. Cato may have been able to [http://www.mises.org/journals/lf/1981/1981_01-04.pdf purge Rothbard], but that does not mean its employees ought to be able to purge facts from Wikipedia. [[User:Nskinsella|NSKinsella (Stephan Kinsella)]] 05:01, 9 December 2005 (UTC)

:NPOV requires that all viewpoints be represented. We don't have to decide which one is true. I don't think anyone disputes that Rothbard was a founding member. That's not identical with "co-founder". In any case, the "history" section needs to be developed. I rearranged some material for better flow and made other copyedits. -[[User:Willmcw|Willmcw]] 09:20, 9 December 2005 (UTC)
::Better flow, Will, but isn't an interesting fact about the Institute that Rothbard actually came up with its name? Why not try to keep this in? [[User:Nskinsella|NSKinsella (Stephan Kinsella)]] 13:52, 10 December 2005 (UTC)
:::What's our source? -[[User:Willmcw|Willmcw]] 21:26, 10 December 2005 (UTC)
::::See the Bergland essay cited above (and the quote from it), plus the bio of Rothbard by Raimondo, again, cited above. Cheers, [[User:Nskinsella|NSKinsella (Stephan Kinsella)]] 07:06, 11 December 2005 (UTC)
:::::I also found a Cato source which recognizes that Rothbard first suggested the name.[http://www.cato.org/dailys/01-01-03.html]. Thanks, -[[User:Willmcw|Willmcw]] 07:48, 11 December 2005 (UTC)
:::::[[User:Will Wilkinson]] may have deleted a little bit too much in his recent edit, though I agree with most if it.[http://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Cato_Institute&diff=prev&oldid=30433493] -[[User:Willmcw|Willmcw]] 08:48, 11 December 2005 (UTC)
::::::Will, why would the reference to Rothbard's naming cato be problematic if it were from a libertarian? [[User:Nskinsella|NSKinsella (Stephan Kinsella)]] 21:50, 11 December 2005 (UTC)
:::::::Who said that? I do think that if Rothbard himself had been the sole source then it would have been questionable, seeing as he was not on good terms with the Institute. As far as I can tell, everybody involved in the matter was libertarian. -[[User:Willmcw|Willmcw]] 22:00, 11 December 2005 (UTC)
::::::::In one of your comments, when I pointed to the Dave Bergland article as the source, you said "ahh, another libertarian". No? As if to diss its legitimacy. Or did I misread you, Will? [[User:Nskinsella|NSKinsella (Stephan Kinsella)]] 03:47, 12 December 2005 (UTC)
:::::::::Yes, my reference was to the edit by [[User:Will Wilkinson]], another libertarian. Why would edits by libertarians by illegitimate? -[[User:Willmcw|Willmcw]] 06:17, 12 December 2005 (UTC)
::::::::::Um, well, are you asking me to psychologize you? I just assumed you were anti-libertarian given your history with various edits in the past, e.g. the David Duke incident. [[User:Nskinsella|NSKinsella (Stephan Kinsella)]] 20:58, 12 December 2005 (UTC)
:::::::::::Please assume good faith. Thanks, -[[User:Willmcw|Willmcw]] 21:25, 12 December 2005 (UTC)
::::::::::::Please assume good faith. Thanks, -[[User:Nskinsella|NSKinsella (Stephan Kinsella)]] 04:52, 13 December 2005 (UTC)

::::::::::Stephan, I don't know much about the extent of Rothbard's involvement. My understanding was that Crane and Koch were the principal founders. If that's incorrect, then I'm definitely OK with putting him back in. Generally, I was just trying to streamline the article. There was a lot of inessential information. The article could still use a lot refining. It would be nice to have a fuller history section, and a less arbitrarily selective listing of Cato's policy views. I'll work on it when I get the chance. [[User:Will Wilkinson|Will Wilkinson]] 19:01, 12 December 2005 (UTC)

==Controversy==

Do the two entries in "Controversy" really merit inclusion? Neither has anything to say about Cato as an institution. They both deal with individual members who did controversial things wholly apart from Cato, and Miller's misfeasance is fairly petty in any case.[[User:208.59.114.86|208.59.114.86]] 09:22, 5 January 2006 (UTC)Matt Tievsky
:If the activities of Cato's scholars are irrelevant, then we should remove the list of their names from the article. Cato, like any similar institution, is the sum of its personnel. However, the heading doesn't seem right, these entries should be part of the list of scholars. -[[User:Will Beback|Will Beback]] 23:51, 4 January 2006 (UTC)
::But we're talking about what Cato personnel did OUTSIDE Cato. That's what I'm really getting at.[[User:208.59.114.86|208.59.114.86]] 09:22, 5 January 2006 (UTC)Matt Tievsky
:::It's not that simple. In the case of Bandow, he was trading on his reputation as a Cato senior fellow:
:::*''Bandow has written more than 150 editorials and columns over the past five years, each identifying his Cato affiliation.''[http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/dec2005/nf20051216_1037_db016.htm]
:::In both instances our article describes the tie-in or reaction from Cato. (PS, don't forget to sign your talk page entries, by typing four tildes ("~"). Thanks.) -[[User:Will Beback|Will Beback]] 06:35, 5 January 2006 (UTC)
::::I believe that controversy sections are inherently biased. The best way to handle negative information is to add to part of the article where it is most relevant so that is can be read in context. [[User:Louislover1969|Louislover1969]] ([[User talk:Louislover1969|talk]]) 09:50, 14 April 2016 (UTC)

==Citing sources==

Some of the changes you are making to the [[Cato Institute]] article are a bit POV, and certainly unsourced. Could you offer a source for the following excerpt, especially the bolded portion?:
:''In December 2003, panelists included [[Patrick Michaels]], [[Robert Balling]] and [[John Christy]], '''all of whom are leading scholars in the field'''.''
For other, more factual claims, such as percentage of Institute funding from tobacco companies, could you cite a source? [[User:DickClarkMises|Dick Clark]] 19:33, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

::All of those scholars are widely published in the climatology literature. Michaels, for instance, has published 13 papers in refereed journals in the past three years. I'd say that makes "leading scholars" less POV than "disagree with widely held views of climate change."

::You could look up Cato's annual budgets and compare them to the claims by critics of Cato's tobacco-company funding, and find that it's a very small percentage. I know of no published source that makes that comparison.

::[[User:DavidBoaz|DavidBoaz]] 19:55, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

:::I am not claiming that they are ''not'' "leading scholars"--I am saying that we need a notable source for such a claim. I believe you that they are above reproach, but it isn't encyclopedic to just say it ''in the encyclopedic voice'', rather than in an excerpt from or summary of a notable, verifiable source (See [[WP:NOR|Wikipedia:No Original Research]], [[WP:V|Wikipedia:Verifiability]], and [[WP:CITE|Wikipedia:Citing sources]]). [[User:DickClarkMises|Dick Clark]] 20:02, 27 January 2006 (UTC)
(Above text copied from [[User talk:DavidBoaz]].)

::::Well, I'm not sure why "all of whom disagree with widely held views of climate change." is more encyclopedic. They disagree with widely held views by journalists, but climatologists are obviously split on the topic. However, I'm afraid I've devoted enough time to this, so c'est la vie.
::::[[User:DavidBoaz|DavidBoaz]] 20:30, 27 January 2006 (UTC)
::::::And then there is the issue of widely held by what people and how many people. If "widely held" just means belief by lots of people then belief in AGW and global warming "denialism" in all its various forms are widely held. [[User:Louislover1969|Louislover1969]] ([[User talk:Louislover1969|talk]]) 09:57, 14 April 2016 (UTC)
:::::"Widely held" is a very weak statement to make about something. Now, it seems to me that the folks associated with Cato contest the anti-scientific dogmatism of many that hold the "yes there is global warming, and humans contributed to it" line. Nonetheless, there is this dogmatism, and for many it goes unquestioned. I don't particularly like the wording myself, since it still posits something (however weak the claim may be) that is supported by no cited source. My revert wasn't a demonstration that I preferred the previous wording, but rather that your change seemed to violate [[WP:NPOV]], [[WP:NOR]], et al. I agree with you that the previous wording is problematic... but replacing it with even more problematic, POV-pushing is not the solution. [[User:DickClarkMises|Dick Clark]] 21:30, 27 January 2006 (UTC)
::::::I think we should keep our personal opinions about policy merits out the talk page as well as the article. Our personal political opinions are not relevant here.[[User:Louislover1969|Louislover1969]] ([[User talk:Louislover1969|talk]]) 09:57, 14 April 2016 (UTC)
::::::[[User:DickClarkMises|Dick Clark]], I think you're off base here. The view that "yes there is global warming, and humans contributed to it" is not "anti-scientific dogmatism" as you claim; rather it is the consensus view of a large majority of scientists with relevant expertise. Certainly, there are scientists who disagree and of course sometimes the scientific consensus turns out to be wrong, but really you've inverted the situation. Even many skeptics concede there is warming and that it is partly anthropogenic; they just think one or the other (or both) has been overstated. [[User:Crust|Crust]] 15:14, 30 January 2006 (UTC)

:::::::[[User:Crust|Crust]]: As you well know, my opinion on global warming doesn't matter here. What matters is what notable sources say. I am certainly ''not'' trying to inject my own position on global warming into the [[Cato Institute]] article. What I was trying to do above was show the editor making changes that I was not contesting the positions of the Cato scholars in question, but I was rather questioning the fact that no notable sources were offered to support such a claim. As for global warming being demonstrably anthropogenic, any proof of such a claim would necessarily require the inclusion of a ''post hoc, ergo propter hoc'' argument (since we don't have a control biosphere in this "experiment"), thus depriving the argument of much (if not all) of its heft. [[User:DickClarkMises|Dick Clark]] 15:57, 30 January 2006 (UTC)

::::::::[[User:DickClarkMises|Dick Clark]], as you say, it's not your opinion on global warming that matters here; the issue is what is the scientific consensus. So I'm surprised to see you follow up by telling us that not only are you skeptical of current arguments for anthropogenic global warming, but that furthermore as a purely logical matter you reject any such argument (or as you put it, it would have little or no "heft"). But enough about you. The point is, while some scientists and many non-scientists disagree, there is a clear scientific consensus on this. [[User:Crust|Crust]] 17:04, 30 January 2006 (UTC)

:::::::::[[User:Crust|Crust]]: I stated my opinion on global warming above because I wanted to insure that [[user:DavidBoaz]] didn't take me to be a POV warrior simply reverting his edits out of spite. I don't really see why my opinion on global warming further matters for this discussion page since I have not tried to insert it into the article. Rather, I was attempting to ''prevent'' unsourced edits, ''even though I personally agreed with their content'' (see [http://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Cato_Institute&diff=36980943&oldid=36980254 diff]). Are you under the mistaken assumption that I was trying to inject some POV on global warming into the article or are you just trying to convert me here? [[User:DickClarkMises|Dick Clark]] 17:12, 30 January 2006 (UTC)

::::::::::[[User:DickClarkMises|Dick Clark]], point well taken. I was confused about the edit history; I didn't notice that you edited in the opposite direction of your personal views, which is commendable. Sorry for the perhaps snarky tone. [[User:Crust|Crust]] 17:20, 30 January 2006 (UTC)

:::::::::::[[User:Crust|Crust]]: (In re: [[Cato Institute]]) No hard feelings--I'm glad we sorted things out. [[User:DickClarkMises|Dick Clark]] 21:21, 30 January 2006 (UTC)

==Budget numbers==

The article says 70% of their money comes from individuals, 12% from foundations and 6% from firms. Where does the other 12% come from? Anyone have a citation for this? --[[User:Atlastawake|David Youngberg]] 20:03, 8 February 2006 (UTC)
:Random, uniformed, uncited guess... probably from things like shirts and publications. I've bought a couple things from the online store before but I would doubt that makes up 12% of their entire income so who knows. --[[user:TheHoustonKid|TheHoustonKid]]

==Rupert Murdoch==

Surely Rupert Murdoch wasn't involved with Cato during the Iraq invasion?
Something isn't right here, it just doesn't make a lick of sense, how can Cato be opposed to the Iraq War and the Patriot Act, when Murdochs Media Monster is is a propaganda tool for both? Viet Dihn a co-author of the Patriot Act sits on the board of directors of NewsCorp, which Murdoch runs. Meanwhile Murdochs media arsenal in America, Britain and Australia promoted the Iraq war ad nauseam. There was ONE newspaper that Murdoch owns that had an unsavvy opinion about the War in Iraq...that was some itty bitty island in Micro-polynesia.
I know this isn't a talk/soapbox forum, and wikipedians have done an outstanding job creating this site. True freedom lovers, as opposed to the masonic weirdo media owning types who'd have us all branded with a serial number tattoo on the back of our necks (to fight the war on terror of course).

Could there be links added at the bottom that highlight "conflicts of interests" of these Thinktanks like the ones I mention? It isn't MY propaganda, its an actual fact. If a Thinktank purports to be Christian in premise and condones and promotes war via its board members who are heavily connected to mass media, a conflict of interest arises given Jesus Christs sermon on the mount covered extensively in the book of Matthew of the Holy Bible.

If I made and added the link myself would it be removed as bias even though in my opinion its not?==Conflict of Ideals and Interests that "such and such" group claims to promote==

Dean [Mar04, 2006]

:Thanks for the kind words. If we have a source for someone pointing out these purported conflicts then we can summarize that. But we cannot, on our own authority, say that so-and-so has a conflict, is a hypocrite, or violates the tenets of their religion. Doing so would violate our core policy, [[Wikipedia:no original research]]. -[[User:Will Beback|Will Beback]] 20:51, 6 March 2006 (UTC)

----

I think "ending drug prohibition" is more neutral and accurate than either "ending the drug war" or "legalizing methamphetamine". Since the object of the sentence is to observe that some of Cato's policies are highly controversial, it's not appropriate to remove reference to Cato's opposition to anti-discrimination laws, and I put it back [[User:John Quiggin|JQ]] 19:55, 27 March 2006 (UTC)

=="individual contributions"==

The article currently has the text:

"The report notes that 83% of individual contributions that year came from individual contributions[...]"

Apart from the clumbsy language (surely 100% of individual contributions came from individual contributions!) it isn't clear at all what this means.

Does it mean to say that 83% of contributions were from individuals acting privately? If so, is it 83% by total amount, or by number of contributions?

:Anyone? [[User:WikianJim|WikianJim]] 13:53, 11 June 2006 (UTC)

::I've now fixed it. --[[User:D Monack|dm]] <sup>[[User talk:D Monack|(''talk'')]]</sup> 18:12, 9 July 2006 (UTC)

:::Do you have a source for the fix? If so, how about adding it to the article? [[User:WikianJim|WikianJim]] 14:29, 28 July 2006 (UTC)

::::That paragraph has an external link to Cato's 2005 annual report. --[[User:D Monack|dm]] <sup>[[User talk:D Monack|(''talk'')]]</sup> 19:20, 28 July 2006 (UTC)

:::::So it does! My mistake :) [[User:WikianJim|WikianJim]] 21:16, 28 July 2006 (UTC)

----

BinaryBits: What reason have you to delete a whole section? &mdash;[[User:Vivacissamamente|vivacissamamente]] 22:07, 2 November 2006 (UTC)

==Cato and Social Security==
I edited the section on Cato and Social Security. The section in question contained this line:
"Critics have charged that Cato's plan assumes that the increased returns projected from private accounts '''are not''' worth the increased risks of participation in the stock market."

If Cato's plan assumed that the increased returns on private accounts would not be worth the risk of participating in the stock market, then Cato would be against privatization, not for it. It is '''critics''' of Cato's privatization plan who assume that the rewards would not be worth the risks. I changed the "are not" in that line to "are," thus remedying this conflict. And then I get this smug message on my talk page:

"Thanks for experimenting with the page Cato Institute on Wikipedia. Your test of deliberately adding incorrect information worked, and has been reverted or removed. Please use the sandbox for any other tests you want to do. Take a look at the welcome page if you would like to learn more about contributing to our encyclopedia. Thanks.–Quiddity 08:03, 14 November 2006 (UTC)"

Quiddity, you have shown me that you are either ignorant, a jerk, or both. Next time you want to criticize an edit a user has made, consider telling them why the edit was reverted, and maybe you could try not to assume that they're deliberately trying to inject misinformation into Wikipedia. I still don't know what your rationale here is, and due to of your lack of an intelligent and reasonable rebuttal I'm inclined to re-edit the section you reverted, so all you really accomplished is making me think that you're a smug little bastard. Have a nice day.

PS: I'm not a newb, and I've read much of the documentation Wikipedia provides. Consider a smug-ectomy -- in fact, send me the bill.
--[[User:64.131.208.133|64.131.208.133]] 00:00, 15 November 2006 (UTC)
:My apologies, I was in error, I revert a lot of simple test edits, and this looked like one. The fact that it changed the meaning of a sentence made me assume it was a misinfo vandalism edit, so I used a {{tl|verror}} template instead of a {{tl|test}} template (because I've been [[User_talk:Quiddity/Archive3#Reverting_vandalism|asked]] to use the userpage templates more often). I'll replace the warning with a welcome template on your userpage. Sorry again. --[[User:Quiddity|Quiddity]] 06:45, 15 November 2006 (UTC)

==Cato isn't "New Right"==

The "New Right" page describes it as follows: "The New Right also differs from the Old Right on issues concerning foreign policy with the New Right being opposed to the non-interventionism of the Old Right. Though mostly ignored by scholars until the late 1980s, the formation of the New Right is now one of the fastest-growing areas of historical research. New Right activists denounced abortion, pornography, homosexuality, feminism, and especially affirmative action." This doesn't fit Cato at all, as Cato is non-interventionist, neutral on abortion, and opposed to government restrictions on pornography and homosexuality. And you're not likely to find Cato scholars denouncing feminism. [[User:Binarybits|Binarybits]] 22:04, 10 September 2007 (UTC)

I think this would depend on what you are considering new. New right in comparison to the right wing conservative of the early to mid 20th century would allow for a characterization of cato as the new right, where as the neo-conservative approach that has been growing since the late 80's can also be considered the new right. that being said, the differences between these two are extreme and therefor could not be considered similar, as was mentioned before. <small>—Preceding [[Wikipedia:Signatures|unsigned]] comment added by [[Special:Contributions/24.242.42.104|24.242.42.104]] ([[User talk:24.242.42.104|talk]]) 23:37, 23 November 2007 (UTC)</small><!-- Template:UnsignedIP --> <!--Autosigned by SineBot-->

==Curious: Is CATO a WP "Reputable/Reliable Source" and how many wikipedia articles cite CATO?==

I think that the CATO institute constitutes what the Wikipedia community would consider a reputable source. But what the hell do I know? Not much most likely.

I am curious as to how many wikipedia articles cite CATO or a CATO published paper as a source.

How would someone find that out? Are there any search engines that or Wiki stats that can be used to determine the link topology within the Wikipedia?

And actually, I am using CATO just as an example. It could just as easily be any other "Washington Think Tank", say the [[Brookings Institute]], or the [[American Enterprise Institute]], or ...?

In fact, I think I will place this comment on their pages too. <small>—Preceding [[Wikipedia:Signatures|unsigned]] comment added by [[Special:Contributions/130.76.64.16|130.76.64.16]] ([[User talk:130.76.64.16|talk]]) 01:45, 12 October 2007 (UTC)</small><!-- Template:UnsignedIP --> <!--Autosigned by SineBot-->
:I (personally) do consider them reliable but slightly ''biased'' due to their "Libertarian" viewpoint. I have a few [[User:Exit2DOS2000/Sandbox|stats]] on several Think Tanks, Cato included. <font style="background-color:#ddcef2;font-weight:bold;color:#000;">[[User:Exit2DOS2000|Exit2DOS2000]]</font><small><small><sup>•[[User Talk:Exit2DOS2000|T]]•[[Special:Contributions/Exit2DOS2000|C]]•</sup></small></small> 02:09, 12 October 2007 (UTC)
::Thank you, I would tend to agree. Biased is not the same as unreliable. I think most of us are biased, the question is whether we are transparent about it. Lots of negative stuff can probably be said about CATO, but they don't deny their Libertarian viewpoints. [[User:71.39.78.68|71.39.78.68]] 01:10, 18 October 2007 (UTC)

::On Bias: I agree that bias is not bad per se. Both the [[scientific method]] and modern civilization require a basic commitment to continuously reconsidering your assumptions in the light of evidence, but without any bias whatsoever one cannot interpret the world as anything but a big collection of disconnected facts. As far as biases go, a bias for liberty and tolerance is at least as good as any other, and beats a bias for authority and parochialism any time as far as I'm concerned.[[User:Sjeng|Sjeng]] 13:02, 12 November 2007 (UTC)

:I would consider them reliable as well. They do have a definite point of view, but so do most think tanks, including Public Citizen, the Economic Policy Institute, Brookings, Urban, Aspen, Heritage, etc. The trick, as with any other institution, is to look at each piece they publish and distinguish between opinion pieces, thought pieces, research studies, etc. and for research studies to look at the quality of the research. Good work is done by people all across the political and philosophical spectrum (as is schlock work as well).[[User:EastTN|EastTN]] ([[User talk:EastTN|talk]]) 19:51, 31 January 2008 (UTC)
::I would consider them reliable to a point, as noted by EastTN. [[User:Bearian|Bearian]] ([[User talk:Bearian|talk]]) 19:56, 31 January 2008 (UTC)

:::Cato is a Think Tank. As such and by definition, they are a source for OPINION. The quality called "Reliable" does not even apply to a Think Tank that engages in producing OPINION. A criterion for citing a source is verifiability (Keep in mind that Wikipedia has no primary goal of Truth, but rather only verifiability (i.e. has someone reliable source said or printed it--whether it's true or not--)). So any Wikipedia article that cited Cato on anything would have to use lead-ins like, "The Cato Institute thinks that..." or "According to the belief of the Cato Institute...". The issue of reliability has to do with being known as a reliable source for scrupulously fact-checked news articles, science publications, or whatever. When an issue is in the realm of those things that no one can know for sure, then citations to Opinions are appropriate-- precisely because those are the only citations that exist. As an example, will President Obama's proposed Economic Stimulus Plan actually stimulate the economy or will it bankrupt us even further? NO ONE KNOWS for a fact what it will accomplish (at least now, Feb 2009, before it has even been put in place). Any article about the stimulus plan would necessarily have to include OPINIONS. Whose opinions count and therefore can be included? A citation from the web page of "Joe's Bait & Tackle, Used Tires & Refrigerators" would not be acceptable by anyone. Citations from Professional Economists would be likely candidates. But even so, those same citations, to be honest would have to be prefaced by phrases like those I wrote above (e.g. "Joe Blow, former Comptroller of The United States has said that..."). Even so, these are the areas that Wikipedia is constantly having (Issues | Arguments | Fights) about. Cato is a usable source for OPINION (and should be labelled clearly as such) but they are not in any way a "Reliable" source for FACT. Forgive me if I left something out here... [[User:Joe Hepperle|Joe Hepperle]] ([[User talk:Joe Hepperle|talk]]) 11:32, 7 February 2009 (UTC)

==Fumento Article==

I removed a paragraph talking about Steven Milloy's re-publication of a Michael Fumento critique of a study about the health dangers of radon gas. Cato has several dozen adjunct scholars. Most of them are not on Cato's payroll and their research is not supervised by Cato. And in fact, Milloy is no longer even an adjunct scholar. So the fact that Milloy once published an article by Michael Fumento--who is also not a Cato scholar--has absolutely nothing to do with Cato's research on environmental policy. On top of that, it seems to me that the summary of Fumento's work (and again, Fumento [http://www.cato.org/people/adjunct.html isn't affiliated with Cato]) is rather unfair to him. While he does suggest that they may have fudged their numbers in the pursuit of media attention or increased funding, the bulk of the article appears to me to be a serious critique of their methodology. I have no idea if he's right or not, but certainly to dismiss the article as being simply a personal attack is unfair. [[User:Binarybits|Binarybits]] ([[User talk:Binarybits|talk]]) 15:36, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

==Bradley==

Why is "Adjunct scholar [[Robert L. Bradley, Jr.]] was a speech writer for former [[Enron]] CEO [[Kenneth Lay]]" in the "in the news" section? There's no information regarding when he was a Lay speechwriter, and no evidence that his speechwriting had anything to do with the newsworthy aspect of Enron's activities. Maybe Bradley's work at Enron was newsworthy in some sense, but if so I'd like to see a citation to a news article or two about his involvement. <small>—Preceding [[Wikipedia:Signatures|unsigned]] comment added by [[User:Binarybits|Binarybits]] ([[User talk:Binarybits|talk]] • [[Special:Contributions/Binarybits|contribs]]) 15:58, 26 December 2007 (UTC)</small><!-- Template:Unsigned --> <!--Autosigned by SineBot-->

==Global Warming==

Bearian has twice added global warming to the introductory paragraph on Cato as an issue on which the Institute has "found common cause" with the Bush administration. He gives no examples of Cato supporting the Bush administration's position on the issue.

While it's certainly true that some Cato scholars are on the same "side" of the issue as the president, I don't know of any examples of close cooperation, or of Cato scholars specifically promoting Bush policy proposals or vice versa. That's in contrast to Social Security and immigration, issues on which the Bush administration's proposals are based on specific policy proposals that were originated by Cato scholars.

Cato scholars write about dozens of topics, so inevitable they'll have some agreements on a wide variety of issues. We can't list every issue in the introduction, we have to pick the most prominent or important. But the ones mentioned in the introduction should be the ones where Cato's work has had a particularly high profile. Immigration and Social Security fit that mold. They were major policy priorities for the president and Cato scholars specifically supported the president's proposals. Unless Bearian has a specific citations, I don't think the same is true of global warming; it's neither a high-profile item on the Bush agenda, nor a major Cato focus, nor have the president and Cato scholars' views been especially in sync. [[User:Binarybits|Binarybits]] ([[User talk:Binarybits|talk]]) 18:11, 31 January 2008 (UTC)
:I've added the cites from below in the article. There have been whole chapters of books written as well about the Cato Institute agreeing with the Administration on Social Security and global warming in particular. [[User:Bearian|Bearian]] ([[User talk:Bearian|talk]]) 18:14, 31 January 2008 (UTC)
::(Cato + "global warming") receives over 170,000 Ghits: [http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Cato+%2B+%22global+warming%22&btnG=Google+Search]. That shows that the connection is being discussed, at the least. It's one of their biggest issues, and one they agree with the White House. [[User:Bearian|Bearian]] ([[User talk:Bearian|talk]]) 18:16, 31 January 2008 (UTC)
::: I still don't see why global warming is higher-profile than the dozens of other issues Cato scholars write about, but I guess that's a subjective opinion. Since we're expanding the list, I've added a few other issues that I think have been equally prominent on the "disagreement" side of the ledger. <small>—Preceding [[Wikipedia:Signatures|unsigned]] comment added by [[User:Binarybits|Binarybits]] ([[User talk:Binarybits|talk]] • [[Special:Contributions/Binarybits|contribs]]) 18:27, 31 January 2008 (UTC)</small><!-- Template:Unsigned --> <!--Autosigned by SineBot-->

Bearian cites the fact that Cato has published 2 dozen studies on "energy and the environment" in recent years as evidence that global warming is more prominent than other issues. But this is silly. Cato publishes dozens of studies a year and has published close to a thousand studies over its 30-odd years in existence. Of these, exactly 7 were about global warming. There are literally dozens of issues that have received a comparable level of attention from Cato. For example, Cato's work on the drug war [http://www.cato.org/research/subtopic_pub_list.php?ra_id=9&topic_id=10&pub_list=2] encompases 16 studies. [[User:Binarybits|Binarybits]] ([[User talk:Binarybits|talk]]) 18:46, 31 January 2008 (UTC)
:Take a look at the The Cato Institute Official web site. It very clearly lists the environment as a major issue for them. I'm not claiming that willi-nilly. They say it. The bloggers say it. Whole books say it. [[User:Bearian|Bearian]] ([[User talk:Bearian|talk]]) 18:50, 31 January 2008 (UTC)
:: Well yeah, according to the Handbook for Congress, there are 40-some "major issues." Does each one of them need a mention in the introduction and a paragraph explaining how important it is? I don't have a problem discussing Cato's views on global warming, and I'll even accept a mention of it in the intro, but let's not exaggerate too much. Also, keep in mind that "energy and the environment" covers a number of issues, some of which (i.e. the Energy Bill) Cato and the White House are on opposite sides. [[User:Binarybits|Binarybits]] ([[User talk:Binarybits|talk]]) 18:58, 31 January 2008 (UTC)

==Center for Promotion of Human Rights==

Shouldn't there be a section for this Cato department? [http://www.cato.org/global_freedom/human_rights/index.html] I think their work promoting libertarian principles in other countries/languages is worth mentioning. They've been expanding it lately and there are already websites in ~10 different languages [[User:Universalcosmos|Universalcosmos]] ([[User talk:Universalcosmos|talk]]) 12:39, 5 February 2008 (UTC)
:Go ahead, '''[[WP:BOLD|be bold]]'''. [[User:Bearian|Bearian]] ([[User talk:Bearian|talk]]) 16:27, 5 February 2008 (UTC)

==Thomas Jefferson logo dropped by Cato -- any sources say why?==

Since inception (as far back as I can see anyway), The Cato Institute has used a [http://web.archive.org/web/20070822132227/http://www.cato.org/index.html bust of Jefferson] as a logo, but this was recently [http://www.cato.org dropped].

This seems like a very significant shift in branding for Cato, and I just can't imagine it was done casually. Cato is among my all time favorite sources...can anyone shed any light on this? [[User:Wndl42|WNDL42]] ([[User talk:Wndl42|talk]]) 16:04, 29 February 2008 (UTC)

:FYI, the Jefferson logo is [http://web.archive.org/web/20070621083922/www.cato.org/about/about.html here] [[User:Wndl42|WNDL42]] ([[User talk:Wndl42|talk]]) 16:41, 29 February 2008 (UTC)

==Lead==

These comments "Cato scholars have been sharply critical of the Bush administration on a wide variety of issues, including the Iraq war, civil liberties, education, health care, agriculture, energy policy, and excessive government spending. However, some Cato scholars have found common cause with the administration on other issues, most notably, on Social Security,[2][3] global warming,[4][5] tax policy,[6] and immigration." seem inappropriate for the lead section - the Institute has been around for thirty years and to focus on its relationship to one administration in the lead seems to be tilting the article to "currentism". The comments may be appropriate at another location in the article. [[User:TheRedPenOfDoom|TheRedPenOfDoom]] ([[User talk:TheRedPenOfDoom|talk]]) 18:46, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

==Lawrence v. Texas==

I think the section on their reaction to Lawrence v. Texas is misleading. The case did involve homosexual rights to privacy, but it was not as this article implies only related to homosexual rights. Rather the court said that the right to privacy applies to all non-commercial sex.

For now, I'm changing this (back to-see diff) from "homosexual" to "sexual"[[Special:Contributions/209.125.235.25|209.125.235.25]] ([[User talk:209.125.235.25|talk]]) 15:51, 14 June 2008 (UTC)

==Non-partisan?==

Just because the Cato Institute doesn't pick favorites between Republicans and Democrats doesn't mean it's non-partisan (as it currently states in the second paragraph). The Cato Institute is totally partisan, as it supports Libertarianism.
[[User:Awesomebitch|Awesomebitch]] ([[User talk:Awesomebitch|talk]]) 05:37, 6 August 2008 (UTC)

: Cato supports libertarianism (with a small-L), the political philosophy. It does not support the Libertarian Party, which would make it a partisan organization. [[User:Binarybits|Binarybits]] ([[User talk:Binarybits|talk]]) 15:22, 6 August 2008 (UTC)

:The Cato Institute is a [[501(c)(3)]] non-profit organization. As such, it is quite verifiably a non-partisan organization. [[User:DickClarkMises|DickClarkMises]] ([[User talk:DickClarkMises|talk]]) 07:00, 6 August 2008 (UTC)

==Intro Paragraphs==
The last paragraph contradicts itself. It spends most of the first half of it talking about how the Institute has criticized the Bush administration, but then oddly ends the sentence saying that they have praised the administration. Anyone know whats right here so that can be fixed, or atleast clarified? [[User:HooperBandP|Hooper]] ([[User talk:HooperBandP|talk]]) 14:07, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

:How is it a contradiction? It says Cato has criticized the admin. for A, B, C, but also praised it for X, Y, Z. The point apparently being it is non-partisan. This is all accurate. —[[User:D Monack|D. Monack]] [[User talk:D Monack|<sup>''talk''</sup>]] 17:59, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

::I was curious if thats what it meant to imply, but from reading it as a normal uninformed reader, it doesn't seem to come across very clearly. Just wondering if there is a way we can rephrase it to help out. Such as: '''However, Cato scholars have praised some administration initiatives, most notably Social Security,[2][3] global warming,[4][5] tax policy,[6] and immigration.''' Maybe its just me being a weird reader, but it just came across oddly to me the old way because if you (as so many of us do) skim over unintentionally instead of thoroughly read you miss that first bit of the original sentence. [[User:HooperBandP|Hooper]] ([[User talk:HooperBandP|talk]]) 13:16, 21 August 2008 (UTC)

::: Makes sense to me. [[User:Binarybits|Binarybits]] ([[User talk:Binarybits|talk]]) 14:07, 21 August 2008 (UTC)

=="libertarian"==

In what sense is this institute "libertarian" -- a word that means something rather different in the U.S. than the rest of the world. It turns out that it means the American version of "libertarian". I'd change the link... but there doesn't seem to be a satisfactory separation of articles on [[libertarianism]]; [[Libertarianism#United_States]] seems to be the best we've got now, and it doesn't explain anything, although [[Talk:Libertarianism#Libertarian_is_anarchism_throughout_the_world_except_in_US|the talk page has some idea what's up]].
Someone needs to do that work, because I know people who have been confused travelling U.S. <--> England, and Wikipedia is a go-to...
&mdash;[[User:Isaac Dupree|Isaac&nbsp;Dupree]]<sup>[[User talk:Isaac Dupree|(talk)]]</sup> 02:21, 26 November 2008 (UTC)

: What change do you suggest? Cato's an American think tank, so the American usage seems appropriate. If there's another meaning elsewhere in the world, it seems like it would be good to disambiguate the relevant links, but that should be done on the "libertarian" page, not this one. [[User:Binarybits|Binarybits]] ([[User talk:Binarybits|talk]]) 23:48, 27 November 2008 (UTC)

"The Cato Institute is an American libertarian think tank headquartered in Washington, D.C."

The Cato Institute is not a libertarian think tank. It is a RIGHT WING "think tank".

I suggest: "The Cato Institute is an American right wing think tank headquartered in Washington, D.C"

--- [[User:Dagme|Dagme]] ([[User talk:Dagme|talk]]) 00:51, 15 November 2013 (UTC)

==What is "CATO"==

What the heck is C-A-T-O. Is it an acronym, a name? [[User:Kaplanoah|Kaplanoah]] ([[User talk:Kaplanoah|talk]]) 01:29, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

: It's a name. It's written "Cato." The name comes from Cato's Letters a famous set of 18th century pamphlets in the UK. [[User:Binarybits|Binarybits]] ([[User talk:Binarybits|talk]]) 01:56, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

==Classical liberal tradition==

The sentence "The Cato Institute's work is rooted in [[Classical liberalism]], in the tradition of [[John Locke]] and [[Adam Smith]]" is poorly constructed because it obscures the relationship between John Lock/Adam Smith and classical liberalism. "...Rooted in the classical liberal tradition of..." makes this relationship clear and avoids a dangling prepositional phrase. [[User:Binarybits|Binarybits]] ([[User talk:Binarybits|talk]]) 13:44, 9 February 2009 (UTC)

==Classical Liberalism & misplaced modifiers==

The sentence "The Cato Institute's work is rooted in the classical liberal tradition of John Locke and Adam Smith" is poorly constructed because it grossly distorts what it is intended to mean. "Classical" and "liberal" are adjectives modifying "tradition" We are not intending to say that the Cato Institute's work is rooted in "tradition". Instead, we correctly say it is rooted in "[[Classical liberalism]]" (a noun). "...Rooted in the [[Classical liberalism]] of John Locke and..." makes this relationship clear and avoids misplaced modifiers. [[User:Joe Hepperle|Joe Hepperle]] ([[User talk:Joe Hepperle|talk]]) 12:00, 10 February 2009 (UTC)

: "classical" modifies "liberal." "Liberal" modifies "tradition." "The classical liberal tradition" is the intellectual tradition that informs Cato's scholarship. Cato's own website uses this phrase a number of times. For example [http://www.cato.org/research/articles/palmer-050701.html | here] it talks about "books and essays from the classical liberal tradition." [[User:Binarybits|Binarybits]] ([[User talk:Binarybits|talk]]) 13:13, 10 February 2009 (UTC)

==Tone / Mild Bias Issues==

I'm a free market guy. But this article is more or less promoting its subject. Much of it should be rewritten in more neutral terms or the article should be flagged.
--[[User:Nogburt|Nogburt]] ([[User talk:Nogburt|talk]]) 07:24, 2 April 2009 (UTC)

I've decided to go ahead and flag the truly problematic section. I just don't think that wording like "...peace, tolerance, equality..." referring to the subject is absolutely unbiased.
--[[User:Nogburt|Nogburt]] ([[User talk:Nogburt|talk]]) 07:38, 2 April 2009 (UTC)

: I changed the offending sentence. Does that help? [[User:Binarybits|Binarybits]] ([[User talk:Binarybits|talk]]) 20:52, 19 April 2009 (UTC)

That struck me too, in the section under liberalism, e.g., saying that Cato is for "peace" and "civil liberties" and "equal rights" is too vague to mean anything. I mean, what's the converse? Who's NOT for "peace"? Or civil liberties or equal rights? It's just a difference of opinion on how to accomplish those things, and when/where/how it should be applied. So, I suggest deleting that sentence, or else refining it to actually mean something. [[User:DonF18|DonF18]] ([[User talk:DonF18|talk]]) 04:38, 13 January 2010 (UTC)

:: Be bold Don, you don't need a concensus to make an edit and it's not supposed to read like an advertisment for them (and fwiw I agree). [[User:RutgerH|RutgerH]] ([[User talk:RutgerH|talk]]) 15:04, 13 January 2010 (UTC)

==Self-published source==

Dynablaster removed a sentence about Exxon-Mobil funding on the grounds that it comes from a self-published source. I'm not actually that big fan of the sentence since it's kind of dated and focuses on a very small part of Cato's budget. But I don't think the self-published argument works. The Exxon-Mobil page itself is well-sourced; it points to Cato and Exxon-Mobil disclosures, which we could easily add up to verify the overall figure. Maybe that's original research, but it's certainly verifiable. [[User:Binarybits|Binarybits]] ([[User talk:Binarybits|talk]]) 20:47, 19 April 2009 (UTC)

==FYI==

If people who watch this page are also interested in how Wikipedia is governed, be sure to check out this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Requests_for_comment/Advisory_Council_on_Project_Development . [[User:Slrubenstein|Slrubenstein]] | [[User talk:Slrubenstein|Talk]] 13:37, 18 July 2009 (UTC)

==Listcruft==

Why are there long lists of everyone affiliated with Cato? I am trying to think of a bigger violation of [[WP:Listcruft]] in any of the articles I've read. [[User:Academic38|Academic38]] ([[User talk:Academic38|talk]]) 22:14, 25 September 2009 (UTC)

==Cato Institute and Tobacco==

I feel that in order to let people decide about the objectiveness of the Cato institute more needs to be said and available on its past dealings specifically with tobacco companies.

The Cato Institute has received funding from tobacco companies:

Between 1995 and 1998 the Cato Institute received 425,000 from RJ Reynolds and Phillip Morris.

--"1998 public policy contributions," Philip Morris. 1998. Bates No: 2065243965 – 2065243979.
http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/fwo83c00.
--"1997 policy payments for Slavit," Philip Morris. 1997. Bates No: 2078848138 – 2078848147.
http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/qwi82c00.
--Noah and McGinley. “Tobacco industry’s figures on political spending don’t reflect gifts to think tanks, other groups,” Wall
Street Journal, March 25, 1996, p. A16.
--Covington & Burling. "Possible revised budget for expanded 1995 tort reform program," Philip Morris. January 24, 1995.
Bates No: 2048769111 – 2048769114.
http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/hxt28d00.
--Public Citizen Congress Watch. “A million for your thoughts: the industry-funded campaign against the FDA by
conservative think tanks,” Washington, D.C.: Public Citizen, 1996, p.30 & p. 52.

What all that money bought:

"The Second-Hand Smoke Charade"
Opposed the EPA's finding that second hand smoke caused 4000 deaths in the United States a year. Public policy and scientific consensus now agrees on the dangers of second hand smoke
http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=5811


"Lies, Damned Lies, & 400,000 Smoking-Related Deaths."
http://www.cato.org/pubs/regulation/regv21n4/lies.pdf

Which was refuted by the american council on science and health
http://www.acsh.org/publications/pubID.498/pub_detail.asp
"Levy and Marimont's arguments do not present a scientifically sound and convincing case that the estimate of 400,000 annual smoking-related deaths is a specious, statistical gimmick." <small><span class="autosigned">—Preceding [[Wikipedia:Signatures|unsigned]] comment added by [[User:Hozjo|Hozjo]] ([[User talk:Hozjo|talk]] • [[Special:Contributions/Hozjo|contribs]]) 04:29, 4 December 2009 (UTC)</span></small><!-- Template:Unsigned --> <!--Autosigned by SineBot-->

This is a fair issue to pose of all think tanks. Remember to be [[WP:BOLD|bold]], but don't write so much as to put [[WP:UNDUE|undue emphasis]] on it. I'd say maybe a sentence or two in the section on corporate support would be good as an illustration of the alleged affects of corporate support. [[User:Academic38|Academic38]] ([[User talk:Academic38|talk]]) 15:20, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

::Fair to complain about this, but this is nothing more than postmodernist crap. I guarantee the Cato Institute would have sided with the tobacco industry whether or not they received any money. First smokers voluntarily harm themselves. Second, the effects of second hand smoke are very mild at limited exposures. Your chance doubles after 30 years of constant exposure, but how many people involuntarily expose themselves to second hand smoke for 40 hours a week for 30 years? Nobody, except the third world poor.([[User:LVAustrian|LVAustrian]] ([[User talk:LVAustrian|talk]]) 04:16, 8 December 2009 (UTC))

==Minarchist?==

I don't think this insertion makes sense. I've never seen Cato describe itself that way. I was a little puzzled by the edit summary on the main page that [[WP:BLP]] applies here. Is that true? [[User:Academic38|Academic38]] ([[User talk:Academic38|talk]]) 02:29, 12 April 2010 (UTC)

:Well, descriptions on the WP:BLP page do change, but it has been used to apply to organizations, usually when there is more libelous unsourced material included. Just getting whomsoever's attention that they need to source it or it will be deleted. [[User:Carolmooredc|CarolMooreDC]] ([[User talk:Carolmooredc|talk]]) 14:35, 12 April 2010 (UTC)

==Libertarian AND neo-liberal==

As a think tank, they obviously have members that are favored of neoliberal and classic liberalism economics than only libertarian, but the word neoliberal isn't even mentioned in the article. Is it because it is not used in the US as much as outside?

09:43, 27 May 2010 (UTC)~ <span style="font-size: smaller;" class="autosigned">—Preceding [[Wikipedia:Signatures|unsigned]] comment added by [[Special:Contributions/212.107.143.107|212.107.143.107]] ([[User talk:212.107.143.107|talk]]) </span><!-- Template:UnsignedIP --> <!--Autosigned by SineBot-->
:[[Neoliberalism]]? [[Special:Contributions/99.181.133.228|99.181.133.228]] ([[User talk:99.181.133.228|talk]]) 07:17, 15 January 2012 (UTC)

== Founding information ==

#Cato says it was founded in 1977.
#The Charles Koch Foundation said it was founded in 1980.

So why does {{user|Activist}} say that the Charles Koch Foundation was founded in 1974, and restructured into Cato in 1977? — [[User:Arthur Rubin|Arthur Rubin]] [[User talk:Arthur Rubin|(talk)]] 16:07, 9 January 2012 (UTC)

:I say so because the original articles of incorporation for the Charles Koch Foundation were filed in Kansas on 12/19/74. In its board meeting on July 7th and 8th, 1976, it changed its name to the Cato Institute with the document filed with the Kansas SOS on 7/28/76. Crane's name first appears as president of Cato in a document filed eight months later. I have provided the URL to Mr. Rubin earlier today that contains PDFs of these documents. I was in error, as I accepted Crane's statement. I stand corrected. It was founded in 1974 and the name was changed in 1976. I have no idea why Cato maintains that it was founded in 1977 when that's clearly not true. Obviously, if Charles Koch claims he founded Cato in 1980, he is not telling the truth.

:The Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation became his instrument for funding other anti-tax libertarian think tanks, at a later date than 1977. I wonder if Rubin is not confusing the two. Recently, and I'm not going to bother looking up the dates, the Charitable Foundation split into the Charles Koch Institute and the Charles Koch Foundation, reprising the name of the earlier non-profit foundation, but certainly not being the same entity. http://www.cgkfoundation.org/[[User:Activist|Activist]] ([[User talk:Activist|talk]]) 02:29, 10 January 2012 (UTC)

::The establishment of one organization or another at any particular time does not mean another organization (e.g., Cato) was established at that same time. Please provide RS, not illogical arguments or arguments about [[WP:VNT|truth]].--[[User:Srich32977|S. Rich]] ([[User talk:Srich32977|talk]]) 04:09, 10 January 2012 (UTC)
:::As I said above, the source given did not have the indicia of reliability, nor did it actually have the information reported. — [[User:Arthur Rubin|Arthur Rubin]] [[User talk:Arthur Rubin|(talk)]] 05:45, 10 January 2012 (UTC)

=== Editing Cato Institute [cut & pasted from S. Rich talk page]===

I provided a URL to the website that contained corrections to entries on the Cato site. I provided an extensive rationale supporting my original edits to the original undoer, Arthur Rubin, prior to your latest revision/undo. I provided further information citing the specific documents. It seems that you, and he, find those publications for which that author writes to be less than reliable for purely arbitrary reasons. I have provided the URL for the original PDF articles of incorporation documents that verify the accuracy of my edits. Still you chose to undo my edits, reverting to the demonstrably incorrect information. I don't understand why your insistence on retaining and preserving misinformation is so important to you. Perhaps you and Rubin (I'll copy this to his Talk page) can explain?

The Koch brothers employ "minders" who scrub any pages referring to them in any way of any less than positive (even neutral) information. I don't see any indication that you're in their employ, at least from looking at the most recent page listing of your editing efforts. So, I'm baffled as to what your agenda is? Did you look at the sources I provided, or just do a whimsical undo?[[User:Activist|Activist]] ([[User talk:Activist|talk]]) 18:22, 11 January 2012 (UTC)

:Actually, you didn't. You provided a website (not a specific URL) which contains documents which appear to contradict the statements here. You later provided a URL on ''my'' talk page, but, even if the documents are genuine, I can think of any number of ways in which the statements you changed would still be correct.
:I suggest you strike out your accusations in the second paragraph above everywhere it appears, or you probably will be blocked for [[WP:NPA]] violations. — [[User:Arthur Rubin|Arthur Rubin]] [[User talk:Arthur Rubin|(talk)]] 19:42, 12 January 2012 (UTC)

I would really like to hear how you think that the statements that are verified by actual PDF copies of the original documents are "incorrect," if the statements that I revised differ considerably from the sources that are essentially hearsay and in which you're expressing confidence. (Cato's version and Charles Koch's version, which differ from each other.) The statement that I made about the Koch's "minding" (actually whitewashing) pages containing materials about them is indisputable. If you'd like sources, I'd be glad to provide them. Next, my note to which you refer is addressed to S.rich, not yourself. I didn't make an accusations but what I did ask was what his or her motivation was for reverting the changes.

I don't mind removing them at all. What I find aggravating is that both of you have persisted in keeping incorrect information (unless you have some source that you haven't revealed and the Secretaries of State from Kansas and California have bogus documents on their sites) on the page. I figure if you redo them in any way that reflects reality, not necessarily using my words, and pull the cautionary note so that the next editor who stumbles across it will not repeat the removals that you and S.rich initiated, I'm fine with that.

I'm not trying be contentious or make this personal, and hope you don't take it that way, but this is a simple correction of two errors of fact that I found on the page. Cato was founded as the Charles Koch Foundation in 1974 and changed its name in 1976 to Cato. That's "reliable" information. It's documented. I personally feel that it is important information. My original sources were the Nation, a publication that's maybe 150 years old, a Beau Hodai story from In These Times, which magazine I've been reading for over 30 years though I don't know its age, and dbapress.com which provides copies of the original documents. Why should this be so difficult?

If you can suggest some way of communicating besides the Wikipedia pages, I'm perfectly comfortable with that as well. Although there may be some small utility in having a this sort of a discussion about the mechanics of Wikipedia on this page, it seems unlikely that it will be read by many (if any) others[[User:Activist|Activist]] ([[User talk:Activist|talk]]) 22:02, 12 January 2012 (UTC)

:Please note the Cato page has 117 watchers and 15,000+ page views in the last 30 days. IOW, lots of people will read these comments even if few feel motivated to comment. Also, if you can provide specific URLs here (on this talk page) it will facilitate discussion. [[WP:COOL]]! --[[User:Srich32977|S. Rich]] ([[User talk:Srich32977|talk]]) 22:16, 12 January 2012 (UTC)

Thanks very much for the information and clarification. I posted the requested URL to Arthur Rubin's page three days ago, hoping that he would simply revert his undo and pull his cautionary note which would invite others to do the same as himself. I don't know why he didn't do that, although he may be currently blocked for being involved in another edit war which I haven't looked at.

Here's the URL with PDF's of the documents filed with secretaries of state in Kansas and California that I posted to Rubin's Talk page, that he still contends are insufficient:
<blockquote> Here's your source documents: http://dbapress.com/source-materials-archive/koch-money-the-corporate-cash-that-oils-the-right-wing-%E2%80%9Cthink-tank%E2%80%9D-machine-koch-industries-americans-for-prosperity-americans-for-prosperity-foundation-reason-foundation-cato/cato-institutecharles-koch-foundation-incorporation-papers-and-bylaw Activist (talk) 20:31, 9 January 2012 (UTC)</blockquote>

I have to confess that I am not someone who spends a lot of time on Wikipedia. My logging on is almost entirely to obtain much appreciated information. But at times I find information of which I have personal knowledge that is inaccurate and I change it and source it, unless I'm just fixing a typo or some such trivial thing. I work about 12 hours a day trying to do 18 hours work, seven days a week, so I can't spare the time to volunteer on Wikipedia. I have very little technical expertise. I really don't know the etiquette here. I'm not trying to step on anyone's toes. I just want it to be a more reliable source of information.

At one point, I even found a post by a user identified by a URL only, who inserted a raving, semi-literate allegation into the middle of an existing sentence about Michael Moore, that he was a known pedophile. I thought that was outrageous, but it had been on the page undisturbed for maybe a year and a half. So I thought maybe I'd just missed something, some accusation which inexplicably wasn't broadcast endlessly on right wing sites that would have been drawn to it. I found nothing. I asked for some editor other than a novice such as myself to make the revert, but the next time I checked back it still hadn't been done. So I did it myself. I have posted well-sourced information to some pages only to have it reverted by other IPN-only anonymous users who never seemed to post anything else, anywhere, to Wikipedia. So I'm not at all confident that libelous information on frequently visited pages, even, will be deleted by readers as my Cato corrections have been. [[User:Activist|Activist]] ([[User talk:Activist|talk]]) 06:55, 13 January 2012 (UTC)

:The url's provided by Activist have been corrected and they lead to a DBA page showing articles of incorporation for Cato reflecting its' incorporation in Kansas on 12/19/1974. The Kansas Secretary of State lists Cato as filing that date, entity no. 0385872. This page: https://www.accesskansas.org/bess/flow/main?execution=e1s3 takes us to the Kansas SoS business entity name search page. It requires typing in "Cato Institute" IOT reach the particular data.
:Cato's "about us" page uses the date "1977" as the date of "founding". Our infobox uses the term "established" and reflects the 1977 date. These differences are NBD. What Cato could have done was incorporate the entity in late 1974 IOT legally work on or towards its eventual founding or establishment as a functioning organization. That is, the Cato Institute entity must exist as a (non-profit) corporation so it can set up bank accounts, hire employees, lease or buy property, or conduct other functions. And after all this preparatory work is done, it declares a date of "founding". The 1974 date is interesting, but I would not get wrapped around the axle by it.--[[User:Srich32977|S. Rich]] ([[User talk:Srich32977|talk]]) 15:29, 13 January 2012 (UTC)

:Sorry, I appreciate your tolerance of my Wikipedia inexperience, but I find this argument you've posed to be speculative and extremely unconvincing. The notion that the immensely wealthy Charles de Ganahl Koch might take over a year and a half to "set up bank accounts," etc., is quite a stretch. He and his brother David H. are currently tied as the fifth wealthiest persons in the United States, with over $25 billion net worth apiece. The foundation didn't "lease or buy property," but used the Kochs' existing premises to house the Foundation. My best assumption is that both Charles and CATO were just sloppy in recounting their history. The documents I've provided clear up that misrepresentation. What they did, for whatever reason, was to change the name of the organization. I am not familiar with the acronyms you're using, i.e., NBD and IOT. Thank you for your thoughtful assistance. [[User:Activist|Activist]] ([[User talk:Activist|talk]]) 18:44, 13 January 2012 (UTC)

:I still don't know what "NBD" and "IOT" mean, but I'm guessing they might be "No big deal" and "In order to." I have once again supplied the documents that clearly establish the date of the founding of Cato as the Charles Koch Foundation and the subsequent name change to Cato. What Cato "could have done" is not an issue. The documents demonstrate what it did in fact do. I can suggest a better explanation for what might have caused the name change but it would be of course only less speculative than that supplied by Srich. [[User:Activist|Activist]] ([[User talk:Activist|talk]]) 22:45, 28 February 2012 (UTC)
::We can say "Cato was first incorporated in Kansas in ... and then founded in San Francisco ...blah blah blah." As it started operations in California, it probably registered with the California Secretary of State. There's where you can look for more info. (BTW, U R AOK RE NBD N IOT, LC?)

Charles Koch issued a statement this month that confirmed the correctness of my edits with respect to the Cato founding and name change. <ref>http://volokh.com/2012/03/09/charles-kochs-recent-statement-on-the-cato-v-koch-conflict/</ref>

::Charles Koch’s Recent Statement on the Cato v. Koch Conflict
By Ilya Somin • Volokh Conspiracy - March 9, 2012 2:00 pm

<blockquote>My objective is for Cato to continually increase its effectiveness in advancing a truly free society over the long term. This was my objective when, in 1976, I came up with the idea of converting the Charles Koch Foundation to a public policy institute and recruited Ed Crane to run it.</blockquote> [[User:Activist|Activist]] ([[User talk:Activist|talk]]) 06:50, 20 March 2012 (UTC)

:How can something calling itself the "Volokh Conspiracy" be a reliable source. And that quote '''still''' wouldn't mean that Cato was founded in 1974. — [[User:Arthur Rubin|Arthur Rubin]] [[User talk:Arthur Rubin|(talk)]] 10:09, 20 March 2012 (UTC)
{{reflist-talk}}
== Proprietarian? ==

Proprietarian think tank? Aside from no [[WP:RS]], there is no Wikipedia article discussing this concept. Accordingly, not an accurate description in ''this'' article. --[[User:Srich32977|S. Rich]] ([[User talk:Srich32977|talk]]) 16:01, 3 February 2012 (UTC)

== Koch v. Crane and Levy? ==

This story says that the Koch brothers are trying to buy up Niskanen's shares of Cato, to elect their own board member and take control of the organization. Crane and Levy, who have criticized Democrats and Reublicans alike, believe that the Koch brothers are unacceptably partisan, and would destroy Cato as an independent, nonpartisan organization.

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2012/03/the_kochs_brothers_are_trying_to_seize_control_of_the_libertarian_think_tank_cato_.single.html
Cato Goes to War
The Koch brothers have launched an extraordinary campaign to take control of America’s most respected libertarian think tank. Will they destroy it?
By David Weigel|Posted Monday, March 5, 2012, at 6:00 AM ET

BTW this article lists changes in the board; the list of board members in this article is apparently inaccurate. --[[User:Nbauman|Nbauman]] ([[User talk:Nbauman|talk]]) 04:27, 6 March 2012 (UTC)

Another article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/06/us/cato-institute-and-koch-in-rift-over-independence.html
Cato Institute Caught in Rift Over Direction
By ERIC LICHTBLAU
Published: March 6, 2012

--[[User:Nbauman|Nbauman]] ([[User talk:Nbauman|talk]]) 09:26, 6 March 2012 (UTC)

== There is no such thing as a Nobel prize in Economics ==

"The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, commonly referred to as the Nobel Prize in Economics,[1][2] but officially the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel"
from [[Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences]]
it is given by a Bank is laden with controversy and is not an official Nobel prize given by the Nobel foundation.

please stop reverting to a misleading caption no fellow of cato has ever won a Nobel prize.
--[[Special:Contributions/24.241.37.128|24.241.37.128]] ([[User talk:24.241.37.128|talk]]) 13:47, 1 June 2012 (UTC)

* Yet...[http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/economics/ The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel] Here it is on the official website of the Nobel organization.[[User:Awotter|Awotter]] ([[User talk:Awotter|talk]])

== Criticism of Corporate Support ==

The section on "criticism of corporate support" hardly contains any criticism of corporate support. Considering the section is mostly examples of Cato working AGAINST corporate interests, I imagine this was washed by somebody sympathetic to Cato. Either some actual criticisms should be cited or the section should be deleted. Considering less than 2% of their funds come from corporations and they don't seem to have any high profile corporate interest scandals, I wonder whether such criticisms are worthy of being highlighted.
[[User:MoireL5522|MoireL5522]] ([[User talk:MoireL5522|talk]]) 19:04, 5 July 2012 (UTC)

:Agree -- the majority was Cato criticisms of corporate welfare. So I moved it up into a subsection of Cato's positions. The remaining, small, section is tagged as needing expansion. This shouldn't be hard -- lots of commentators opine on the fact that the Koch family backs Cato. Next, if and when there is more put into this Criticisms of corporate support section, we can add Cato's/others' response for balance.--[[User:Srich32977|S. Rich]] ([[User talk:Srich32977|talk]]) 23:23, 5 July 2012 (UTC)

== 2012 Election ==

I think it ought be said that Cato also criticized Romney and Obama this time around in 2012.[[Special:Contributions/24.249.193.180|24.249.193.180]] ([[User talk:24.249.193.180|talk]]) 15:05, 5 November 2012 (UTC)

== Václav Klaus to become Distinguished Senior Fellow ==

Is it worth including in the article that the [[Czech Republic|Czech]] president [[Václav Klaus]], whose term is just nearing end, is to become a Distinguished Senior Fellow of the Institute? [http://www.klaus.cz/clanky/3282 Klaus.cz] - [[Special:Contributions/193.84.186.81|193.84.186.81]] ([[User talk:193.84.186.81|talk]]) 19:23, 16 January 2013 (UTC)
:Yes. But what does Cato.org say? Besides the Czech language reference you provided, English languages sources will help. Remember, we must [[WP:V|verify]] carefully in accordance with [[WP:BLP]] rules. --[[User:Srich32977|S. Rich]] ([[User talk:Srich32977|talk]]) 19:32, 16 January 2013 (UTC)
::[http://www.cato.org/blog/czech-president-join-cato-institute This] was just published on Cato.org. - [[Special:Contributions/193.84.186.83|193.84.186.83]] ([[User talk:193.84.186.83|talk]]) 15:04, 1 March 2013 (UTC)

== Some new user thoughts on Cato page overall ==

I am a long time reader of Wikipedia, but a new user to the editing side. With that being said, I would like make a few observations about this page. If we want to answer the question of “what is Cato Institute?” from a neutral perspective, as per the content section of the Wikipedia editing policy, could this page not have less content and accomplish the intended goal better in regards to neutrality?

The reader who comes to the page likely wants basic facts about Cato. As the caption at the top states, the lead article launches into “a series of position comparisons” which is not a neutral way to answer the question of “what is Cato”. Also, I would suggest that some of the resources did not pertain to the Cato Institute (e.g. "The Doubters of Global Warming" Frontline). The article should, in my opinion, not stray from the path of neutrality and explaining to the reader what the subject is, rather than conjecture about how it was accepted by others.

I do appreciate those of you who have taken the time to provide this information and I hope not to sound critical as my interest were to simply improve our collective intelligence. [[User:Evanw2821|Evanw2821]] ([[User talk:Evanw2821|talk]]) 14:25, 20 July 2013 (UTC)

== Neutrality ==

First, I would like to thank those of you who have taken the time to edit this and other Wikipedia pages. Sharing your expertise about the page topics while trying to ensure a Neutral Point of View, Verifiable Sources, and No Original Research is quite worthwhile. In this new media world, it enhances the opportunities for participation and improves the quality of the final content.
This is my first venture on the edit side of Wikipedia, I hope I can provide a new-user perspective about how this page is evolving. My interest was to simply learn what the Cato Institute is. The content on the page seems to move back and forth between two different viewpoints creating a tug of war of ideology. While the obvious purpose is to provide a neutral point of view for the page, it seems to get lost in the discourse and debate of political ideology.
My hope is that those more experienced and knowledgeable than I about Cato will contribute to the additional editing of the Cato Institute page so it will ultimately be neutral and without bias, providing information which simply informs rather than persuades. Respectfully. BevIndiana 20:00, 22 July 2013 (UTC) <small><span class="autosigned">— Preceding [[Wikipedia:Signatures|unsigned]] comment added by [[User:BeverlyCompton|BeverlyCompton]] ([[User talk:BeverlyCompton|talk]] • [[Special:Contributions/BeverlyCompton|contribs]]) </span></small><!-- Template:Unsigned --> <!--Autosigned by SineBot-->

== Board members & Nobel winners -- BRD ==

The fact that Cato is the Primary source for info (board members & prize winners) is not sufficient to remove the info. As far as these listings go, the fact that various people are named is uncontroversial and reliable. The notability of these people is pertinent to the article in that the listing of them serves to explain, indirectly, Cato's high ratings in the annual think tank survey from U Penn. The listings also serve to balance the article because of criticisms connected with "corporate sponsorship" and the Koch brothers. Other think tank articles have such listings, notwithstanding [[WP:OTHERCRAP]]. Example: [[:Hoover Institution]]. Indeed, listings in WP can become [[WP:FL]]. Example: [[:Arthur C. Clarke Award]]. – [[User:Srich32977|S. Rich]] ([[User talk:Srich32977|talk]]) 15:40, 20 August 2013 (UTC)
:The problems with this article go beyond whether these lists are copied from the Cato website. The article is overweighted with material sourced to primary statements of the analysis and opinions of its scholars. This work would ideally be selected and sourced to secondary discussion of the most significant of their writings. Moreover, the Cato institute itself has played an important role in the American policy discussion over the past three decades, and there should be more RS material about the Institute, its operations and influence, political and public reaction to it, and the like -- sourced to secondary RS references, not the Institute's own statements about itself, its intentions, goals and beliefs. [[User:SPECIFICO |<font color ="0011FF"> '''SPECIFICO'''</font>]][[User_talk:SPECIFICO | ''talk'']] 21:46, 22 August 2013 (UTC)
:: "Worked with" is weaseley. What was the nature of the work of these Nobelists at Cato and how did it relate to their work as academic economists? -- which is the work they received the Nobel prize for. [[User:Steeletrap|Steeletrap]] ([[User talk:Steeletrap|talk]]) 21:51, 22 August 2013 (UTC)
:: SPECIFICO's concern is validated by Cato's profile of Nobelist [[Gary Becker]] [http://www.cato.org/people/becker.html here]. Becker's extent of involvement with the Institute appears to have been limited to one lecture. This is why we should avoid weasel words like "worked with." [[User:Steeletrap|Steeletrap]] ([[User talk:Steeletrap|talk]]) 21:56, 22 August 2013 (UTC)
:::The tone of the Cato page which lists the Nobel laureates is overtly promotional. Srich, you should undo your reinsertion and instead generate RS text which discusses the involvement of the laureates and its significance for Cato Institute. [[User:SPECIFICO |<font color ="0011FF"> '''SPECIFICO'''</font>]][[User_talk:SPECIFICO | ''talk'']] 22:50, 22 August 2013 (UTC)
{{ec}}
::::Who is using the term "worked with"? Why, Cato used it. So this is not an issue of an editor using weasel words or unduly promoting the listing. As it stands, the listing is simply a listing. But the bullet about Becker could be expanded to include his involvement as an advisory board member. Would such details be less promotional, or more? Would such info clarify that Becker's involvement is ''more than'' one lecture? In any event, I've modified the listing to say "associated with". Let us know if you think this is an improvement. If not, we can change it back or find other phrasing. – [[User:Srich32977|S. Rich]] ([[User talk:Srich32977|talk]]) 23:01, 22 August 2013 (UTC)
:::::[inserted]Who do you speak for Srich, or is that the royal Us? [[User:SPECIFICO |<font color ="0011FF"> '''SPECIFICO'''</font>]][[User_talk:SPECIFICO | ''talk'']] 23:33, 22 August 2013 (UTC)
::::: Cato's page is not used in this article other than to repeat their listing. They are RS in this regard. Promotionalism has to do with how material is ''used in WP'', not the fact that the RS has nice things to say about a topic. – [[User:Srich32977|S. Rich]] ([[User talk:Srich32977|talk]]) 23:04, 22 August 2013 (UTC)
{{od}} Srich, you are misstating policy and have no RS which tells us the extent or significance of those scholars work with for or influencing Cato. You've made the text worse, not better by changing the meaning to one which was not stated by Cato, in fact to one which is absurd since some of those gents are deceased. Please think this through and address the points raised by your colleagues here. [[User:SPECIFICO |<font color ="0011FF"> '''SPECIFICO'''</font>]][[User_talk:SPECIFICO | ''talk'']] 23:21, 22 August 2013 (UTC)
: So Steeletrap does not like the phrase "worked with" and you don't like "associated". What do you propose? (Several of the Nobel gents are dead, but that is detail that may or may not be helpful.) I only include the list ''as a list'', and seek to avoid embellishing it. Add embellishment if you like. But please note that ots of articles about institutions have such listings, supported by nothing more than the organization themselves. Look at [[WP:FA]] [[:Seacology]] for example. Or look at various university articles, which quite often contain listings of notable alumni and faculty. – [[User:Srich32977|S. Rich]] ([[User talk:Srich32977|talk]]) 23:56, 22 August 2013 (UTC)
: Here, FYI, is a [[WP:ASSESS|A-class]] article (which is a step above [[WP:GA]]) that is sourced largely from GTRI, including the names of its key people. [[:Georgia Tech Research Institute]]. – [[User:Srich32977|S. Rich]] ([[User talk:Srich32977|talk]]) 00:12, 23 August 2013 (UTC)
:: Remember how you thought all the problems on [[Foundation for economic education]] shouldn't be tagged because it had passed GA? Please be specific in your response to issues raised here so that the discussion can converge to a resolution which improves the article. [[User:SPECIFICO |<font color ="0011FF"> '''SPECIFICO'''</font>]][[User_talk:SPECIFICO | ''talk'']] 00:22, 23 August 2013 (UTC)
::: The Nobel Prize section smacks of self-promotion (and is snatched from a marketing piece). Why not create a section broadly describing the collaboration between Cato with notable scholars? Gary Becker wouldn't qualify as having worked with Cato in anything but a technical sense, but Milton Friedman certainly would (see: [http://www.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/documents/friedman_cato2.pdf here]), as would others on the list. The content of the section could specifically describe the nature and extent of the collaboration and would label those scholars who have won the Nobel Prize as "nobel laureates". It would not however include everyone on the list, since that is misleading and self-promotional in those cases where the cited Laureate has had an exceedingly limited interaction with Cato. I also see little reason for the section to '''only''' mention Nobel Laureates, as opposed to prominent/notable scholars generally.
::: Also, the "A-Class" bit is really a red-herring. We are talking about one part of the article, not the article as a whole. [[User:Steeletrap|Steeletrap]] ([[User talk:Steeletrap|talk]]) 00:45, 23 August 2013 (UTC)
::::I opened this thread as a BRD because someone had removed the <u>listings of notables</u>. If the objection is that articles should not have such listings, then state the policy to that effect ''and'' seek to overcome the fact that numerous GAs, A-class, and FAs have such listings. Overcome the fact the [[WP:FL]]s exist as well. Overcome the fact that numerous articles have their listings of notable people based on RS from their institution websites. The "problems" with this article page may "go beyond whether these lists are copied from the Cato website", but that question is ''not'' what this BRD is about. Rather, "what shall we include in terms of people lists?" is more to the point. If editors want a bare listing, you now have it. If they want a listing with more stuff, then provide such stuff. – [[User:Srich32977|S. Rich]] ([[User talk:Srich32977|talk]]) 00:51, 23 August 2013 (UTC)
{{od}}The source page on Cato's website is self-promoting insinuation and appropriation of undocumented benefits which purportedly accrued to Cato as a result of its in some cases minimal association with these gents. Srich, please state specifically for each of the individuals whose names you have listed, what is their association with the Cato Institute and how is that association described and documented by the cited source or whatever other sources you may propose. [[User:SPECIFICO |<font color ="0011FF"> '''SPECIFICO'''</font>]][[User_talk:SPECIFICO | ''talk'']] 01:31, 23 August 2013 (UTC)
:[[WP:NLIST]] provides guidance. Whether the Cato page is self-promoting or not is another question that must be evaluated IAW [[WP:RS]] guidelines. But RS is not evaluated on the basis of "self-promotion insinuation" or "appropriation of undocumented benefits" that might be seen in the RS (according to ones' views). Rather, describing the Cato page in these terms, with the idea of keeping the names out of the article, is injecting one's own views. Consider – we have an article titled [[:List of SRI International people]]. There are enough people at [[:SRI International]] to justify a separate article. The list article was a Featured List candidate and SRI International is a GA. In both of these lists, SRI's various webpages are used as the RS. And here [http://www.sri.com/about/awards-honors/professional-societies] we see SRI's statement that "Our innovative contributions are often acknowledged at the corporate and individual levels by technical societies, national organizations, and professional associations. We are proud to feature some of our awards here." Do we reject the SRI webpage because of this promotional language? I think not.
:The fact that I mention SRI and other quality articles is no red herring. If someone feels that the use of such "promotional RS" justifies the removal of names from WP, I invite them to start deleting the names from such lists in the articles I've mentioned. Go ahead and cite the "promotional" nature of the RS as the justification. My expectation is that editors following such lists and articles will object.
:I will add that prose is preferred when mentioning names in organizational type articles. [[WP:UNIGUIDE]] is a WikiProject guide that encourages such writing. In this case, though, there are two problems. One, the lists do need RS which can be used to fill out the ''descriptions'' of the NoBull (and other notables) guys's roles at CI. And, two, there are likely to be complaints from editors who would not like any "promotional" tone that prose might or would entail. At present the lists serves a useful propose for readers. So: 1. the people listed meet WP notability guidelines; 2. there is sufficient RS available to V their connection to CI; 3. their connection to CI serves to underwrite CI's high ratings in the UP surveys; and 4. the the lists themselves might serve as a starting point for article expansion. – [[User:Srich32977|S. Rich]] ([[User talk:Srich32977|talk]]) 04:33, 23 August 2013 (UTC)
::Srich, you keep changing the subject without responding to clear statements concerns and questions from your colleagues here. That cannot lead to a convergence to a stable community resolution here. [[User:SPECIFICO |<font color ="0011FF"> '''SPECIFICO'''</font>]][[User_talk:SPECIFICO | ''talk'']] 14:08, 23 August 2013 (UTC)
Cato has updated their website to show how each laureate has worked with Cato.[[User:Sy9045|Sy9045]] ([[User talk:Sy9045|talk]]) 11:06, 1 November 2014 (UTC)

== Editing concerns ==

The following thread has been cut from my (S. Rich) talk page IOT paste here:<br>
<nowiki>== CATO ==</nowiki>

Cato popped up on my watchlist recently and I've taken a look at some of the text there. I see that you've done some recent rearrangement and updating of formalities. The article has numerous problems which I hope you may address in the next phase of your improvement there. Full of weasels. Lots of mentions of this or that policy issue which turn out to mis-state the Cato positions. Lots of OR interpretation of Cato views. No real narrative of the organization or implementation of Cato mission. Excessive reliance on primary sources. And more. Cleaning up the formalities may have been a good first step in that it revealed the underlying weaknesses of the article. I hope you'll find time to continue working there. Regards. [[User:SPECIFICO |<font color ="0011FF"> '''SPECIFICO'''</font>]][[User_talk:SPECIFICO | ''talk'']] 12:16, 22 August 2013 (UTC)

Posted by: – [[User:Srich32977|S. Rich]] ([[User talk:Srich32977|talk]]) 23:15, 22 August 2013 (UTC)
:Thanks [[User:SPECIFICO |<font color ="0011FF"> '''SPECIFICO'''</font>]][[User_talk:SPECIFICO | ''talk'']] 23:22, 22 August 2013 (UTC
[14:08, 23 August 2013 (UTC) moved comment to intended location above] [[User:SPECIFICO |<font color ="0011FF"> '''SPECIFICO'''</font>]][[User_talk:SPECIFICO | ''talk'']] 14:08, 23 August 2013 (UTC)
::: I have not commented in this section so it is hard to understand how I am "changing the subject". My comments in the section above are focused on the BRD of removal/addition of lists of notable people in the article. – [[User:Srich32977|S. Rich]] ([[User talk:Srich32977|talk]]) 04:36, 23 August 2013 (UTC)

== A discrepancy ==

"Notable books from Cato and Cato scholars include:

In Defense of Global Capitalism"

However I went to the book's page and it says that the book is not from Cato but from a Swedish libertarian group called Timbro. [[Special:Contributions/70.198.130.132|70.198.130.132]] ([[User talk:70.198.130.132|talk]]) 03:40, 7 May 2014 (UTC)

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I have marked this section as being written like an advertisement, since it makes no effort to rework Cato's stated positions in an encyclopedic, neutral way. [[Special:Contributions/64.203.244.11|64.203.244.11]] ([[User talk:64.203.244.11|talk]]) 14:46, 19 January 2023 (UTC)
== SPS citing of Cato data ==


== Severe NPOV Problem ==
Given the reputation of Cato assessed by the University of Pennsylvania, I submit that citations using Cato are inherently RS. Moreover, to give an encyclopedic picture of Cato, the material in the article is [[WP:NOTEWORTHY]]. – [[User:Srich32977|S. Rich]] ([[User talk:Srich32977|talk]]) 23:06, 1 April 2017 (UTC)


There exists no section on criticism, even though many have commented on contributions to climate denialism, and smoking lobbying, etc. Onhand I have no specific examples but I’m sure they could be found rather easily. [[Special:Contributions/2600:4041:5804:2500:6056:CFD4:8105:DB7|2600:4041:5804:2500:6056:CFD4:8105:DB7]] ([[User talk:2600:4041:5804:2500:6056:CFD4:8105:DB7|talk]]) 01:36, 1 April 2023 (UTC)
:I removed a chunk of text here [https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Cato_Institute&type=revision&diff=773353352&oldid=772999685], because it was entirely self-sourced. The problem here is that when we use primary self-sourced material, it is an indication that we are relying on our own judgment as Wikipedia editors as to what's important and how it should be represented. In other words, we're conducting original research. There's no problem citing Cato as a source for, say, trivia like its year of founding, but we should not be basing substantial sections presenting the many things we think have been significant based solely on primary sourcing from Cato. Cato people are mentioned enough in the media that it should be trivially easy to establish the significance of any of these things by reference to reliable independent secondary sources. This is absolutely normal practice, by the way, and I just had the same argument with someone who was sourcing half of an article on a anti-vaccine propaganda group to their own press releases and website.
:Criticism is good, especially on this anti-science organization, but criticism sections are not. See [[WP:CSECTION]]. --[[User:Hob Gadling|Hob Gadling]] ([[User talk:Hob Gadling|talk]]) 07:57, 1 April 2023 (UTC)
: The issue is not reliability (Cato is reliable as a source in the views of free-marketeers, not as an objective judge of fact, of course), the issue is [[WP:UNDUE|undue weight]]. To prove we're not giving undue weight to certain statements and views, we need independent third-party sources. <b>[[User Talk:JzG|Guy]]</b> <small>([[User:JzG/help|Help!]])</small> 23:19, 1 April 2017 (UTC)
::Editors must make the judgment as to whether material is noteworthy. And given that Cato-sourced material meets all 5 factors of [[WP:SPS]] policy it is not proper to cite SPS as a rationale for its removal. Also, OR does not apply because we are not citing material "for which '''no''' reliable, published sources exist [emphasis added]." Rather, the inclusion of this stuff is part of the [[WP:DISCRIMINATE|discrimination]] process that editors undertake. Could it be that your objection to Cato has more to do with a dislike of libertarianism? – [[User:Srich32977|S. Rich]] ([[User talk:Srich32977|talk]]) 23:46, 1 April 2017 (UTC) <small>PS: Arguments you made with other editors about other articles have nothing to do with this discussion.23:48, 1 April 2017 (UTC)
</small>
{{ping|JzG}} Response? – [[User:Srich32977|S. Rich]] ([[User talk:Srich32977|talk]]) 04:04, 3 April 2017 (UTC)

Latest revision as of 15:39, 21 December 2024

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Regarding the "International" subsection of the "Cato positions on political issues and policies" section

[edit]

I have marked this section as being written like an advertisement, since it makes no effort to rework Cato's stated positions in an encyclopedic, neutral way. 64.203.244.11 (talk) 14:46, 19 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Severe NPOV Problem

[edit]

There exists no section on criticism, even though many have commented on contributions to climate denialism, and smoking lobbying, etc. Onhand I have no specific examples but I’m sure they could be found rather easily. 2600:4041:5804:2500:6056:CFD4:8105:DB7 (talk) 01:36, 1 April 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Criticism is good, especially on this anti-science organization, but criticism sections are not. See WP:CSECTION. --Hob Gadling (talk) 07:57, 1 April 2023 (UTC)[reply]
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