Skip to main content

Books and Reports

Book cover of Austrian Economics.

Austrian Economics: An Introduction
by Steven Horwitz

This book explains the Austrian School’s insights on a wide range of economic topics and introduces some of its key thinkers. It also explains the relationship between the Austrian School and mainstream economics and delves into the criticisms that Austrian School economists have mounted against communist and socialist economic thought.

Download: PDF | ePub | mobi

Economic Freedom of the World cover

Economic Freedom of the World
co‐​published by the Cato Institute, the Fraser Institute in Canada and more than 70 think tanks around the world.

This is the 25th edition of Economic Freedom of the World and this year’s publication ranks 165 countries and territories for 2019, the most recent year for which data are available.

Download: PDF

Economics in One Virus cover

Economics in One Virus: An Introduction to Economic Reasoning through COVID-19
by Ryan A. Bourne

Have you ever stopped to wonder why hand sanitizer was missing from your pharmacy for months after the COVID-19 pandemic hit? Why some employers and employees were arguing over workers being re‐​hired during the first COVID-19 lockdown? Why passenger airlines were able to get their own ring‐​fenced bailout from Congress?

Download: PDF | ePub | mobi

Evasive Entrepreneurs and the Future of Governance cover.

Evasive Entrepreneurs and the Future of Governance: How Innovation Improves Economies and Governments
by Adam Thierer

Innovators who don’t always conform to social or legal norms are changing the world and challenging governments. This book makes the case for embracing “evasive entrepreneurs” and the freedom to be innovative because of the many benefits that individuals, society, and even governments derive from acts of technological creativity.

Download: PDF | ePub | mobi

Frederick Douglass: Self‐​Made Man cover

Frederick Douglass: Self‐​Made Man
by Timothy Sandefur

Born into slavery in 1818, Frederick Douglass rose to become one of the nation’s foremost intellectuals―a statesman, author, lecturer, and scholar who helped lead the fight against slavery and racial oppression. Unlike other leading abolitionists, however, Douglass embraced the U.S. Constitution, insisting that it was an essentially anti‐​slavery document and that its guarantees for individual rights belonged to all Americans, of whatever race.

Download: PDF | ePub | mobi

Free Speech and Liberal Education: A Plea for Intellectual Diversity and Tolerance cover

Free Speech and Liberal Education: A Plea for Intellectual Diversity and Tolerance
by Donald Alexander Downs

The status of free speech and academic freedom in the nation’s colleges and universities has become an explosive issue. Reports of disruptions and dis‐​invitations of speakers and a host of new speech‐​inhibiting policies instituted by campus bureaucracies are now commonplace.

Download: PDF | ePub | mobi

Freedom in the 50 States cover

Freedom in the 50 States: An Index of Personal and Economic Freedom
by William Ruger and Jason Sorens

Freedom in the 50 States is one of the most comprehensive and definitive sources on how public policies in each American state impact an individual’s economic, social, and personal freedoms.

Download: PDF
Visit: Interactive Website

Human Freedom Index cover

Human Freedom Index
by Ian Vásquez, Fred McMahon, Ryan Murphy, & Guillermina Sutter Schneider

Because freedom is inherently valuable and plays a role in human progress, it is worth measuring carefully. The Human Freedom Indexis a resource that can help to more objectively observe relationships between freedom and other social and economic phenomena, as well as the ways in which the various dimensions of freedom interact with one another.

Download: PDF

The Inclusive Economy cover

The Inclusive Economy: How to Bring Wealth to America’s Poor
by Michael D. Tanner

In a bold challenge to the conventional wisdom of both liberals and conservatives, Michael Tanner looks at the reasons for poverty in America and offers a detailed agenda for increasing wealth, incomes, and opportunity. Too much anti‐​poverty policy focuses on making poverty less miserable, and not enough on helping people get out of poverty and becoming self‐​sufficient.

Download: PDF | ePub | mobi

Peace, War, and Liberty cover

Peace, War, and Liberty: Understanding U.S. Foreign Policy
by Christopher Preble

Has the United States been a force for liberty around the world? Should it be? And if so, how? Christopher A. Preble traces the history of U.S. foreign policy from the American Founding to the present, asking whether America’s policy choices have made the world safer and freer, and considering the impact of those choices on freedom at home.

Download: PDF | ePub | mobi

Ten Global Trends Every Smart Person Should Know cover

Ten Global Trends Every Smart Person Should Know: And Many Others You Will Find Interesting
by Ronald Bailey and Marian Tupy

Think the world is getting worse? You’re wrong: the world is, for the most part, not getting worse. But 58 percent of folks in 17 countries that were surveyed in 2016 thought the world is either getting worse or staying the same rather than getting better.

Download: PDF | ePub | mobi

The Most Common Arguments Against Immigration and Why They’re Wrong cover

The Most Common Arguments Against Immigration and Why They’re Wrong
by Alex Nowrasteh

From “immigrants are going to take American jobs” to “they’re going to commit crimes” or “they won’t learn English,” we’ve heard it all. The Most Common Arguments Against Immigration and Why They’re Wrongcontains the 15 most common arguments against immigration and Nowrasteh’s responses to them.

Download: PDF | ePub | mobi

The Three Languages of Politics cover

The Three Languages of Politics: Talking Across the Political Divides
by Arnold Kling

Progressives, conservatives, and libertarians, Kling argues, are “like tribes speaking different languages. As a result, political discussions do not lead to agreement. Instead, most political commentary serves to increase polarization.”

Download: PDF | ePub | mobi

Understanding Statistics: An Introduction cover

Understanding Statistics: An Introduction
by Antony Davies

Knowing when you’re being hoodwinked requires a degree of statistical literacy, but most people don’t learn how to interpret statistical claims unless they take a formal course that trains them in the mathematical techniques of statistical analysis.

Download: PDF | ePub | mobi

Why, as a Muslim, I Defend Liberty cover

Why, as a Muslim, I Defend Liberty
by Mustafa Akyol

Islam, the second largest religion in the world, has several authoritarian interpretations today that defy human freedom — by executing “apostates” or “blasphemers,” imposing religious practices, or discriminating against women or minorities. Mustafa Akyol offers a bold critique of this trouble, by frankly acknowledging its roots in the religious tradition.

Download: PDF | ePub | mobi

Visions of Liberty

Visions of Liberty
by Aaron Ross Powell and Paul Matzko

Visions of Liberty is more than just an introduction to the broad scope of political liberty. It will leave you with a strong sense—a clear vision—of what the application of genuine libertarian policies looks like in practice. Liberty unleashes our drive for ingenuity and sense of compassion. This radical vision of a world that might be is truly worth striving for.

Download: PDF

Resources

Heroes of Progress cover

Heroes of Progress

A bi‐​weekly column that gives a short overview of unsung heroes of progress who have made an extraordinary contribution to the wellbeing of humanity. The Hero could be anyone from a scientist who invented a vaccine that saved millions of people, to a politician whose policies lifted a nation from poverty to prosperity.

Visit: Website

Your Life in Numbers cover

Your Life in Numbers

Explore how much the world has changed since you were born. Is life getting better or worse? Watching the news, it’s easy to become pessimistic. But don’t forget that reporting is often selective. So, what is the real state of humanity? Consider the changes that have occurred in the world since the end of World War II.

Visit: Interactive Website

Project Sphere

Project Sphere

Sphere is an online debate series designed to create the gold standard for civil discussions of policy issues and political philosophy based on common values and shared objectives. Sphere is a collaboration between the Cato Institute and the Brookings Institution.

Visit: Website

Sphere Professional Development Programs

Sphere Professional Development Programs

Cato’s Sphere Education Initiative works with the premier professional development organizations covering civics, history, economics, and media literacy. Sphere provides grades 5–12 educators and administrators the knowledge, experience, resources, and professional development opportunities to bring difficult conversations to the classroom.

Visit: Website

Humanprogress.org

Human​Progress​.org

By definition, a world that is populated by flawed human beings cannot be a perfect place. As long as there are people who go hungry or die from preventable diseases, there will always be room for improvement. By focusing on long‐​term trends and comparing living standards between two or more generations, however, it is possible to observe much improvement. That improvement is not linear or inevitable, but it is real.

Visit: Website

Sphere Lesson - Cropped

Lesson Proposal Submission Form

Propose a lesson plan for Sphere Education Initiatives.

Submit Form

Sphere Lesson - Cropped

Lesson Planning Workshop

Download a worksheet for the Sphere Education Initiatives lesson planning workshop.

Download Worksheet

Realizing Freedom by Tom Palmer - Jacket

Excerpt from Realizing Freedom by Tom Palmer

An excerpt from Tom Palmer’s book Realizing Freedom, covering definitions of a civil society and civil society & motivation.

Download PDF

Inkstick - Sphere Summit Resource

Inkstick: Experts Reflect on the First Year of the Ukraine War

When it comes to Ukraine, the persistent threat of nuclear escalation and the logistics of war are on everyone’s minds.

Visit: Website

Constructive Dialogue Institute logo

Constructive Dialogue Institute (CDI) — From Controversy to Dialogue: Strategies for Teaching Contentious Topics in the Classroom

A presentation on how to foster constructive dialogue along with a brief overview of the Constructive Dialogue Institute and their mission.

Download Slides

Download CDI Overview 

Project Sphere

Sphere Summit Presentation: Free Speech in Schools

A presentation on free speech in U.S. schools that discusses open dialogue, banned books, and educational gag orders.

Download Slides

Project Sphere

Sphere Summit Presentation: Sphere in the Classroom

A presentation on how to implement Sphere content into your classroom.

Download Slides

Thumbnail of Immigration Flowchart

U.S. Legal Requirements for Permanent Immigrants, Applicants from Abroad

A portion of David Bier’s flowchart demonstrating the complexity of immigrating to the United States.

Download Image

Ruth Bader Ginsburg Thumbnail

Ruth Bader Ginsburg — Women’s Rights Quote Graphic

A graphic of Ruth Bader Ginsburg with the accompanying text, “Laws that give women special treatment ‘keep women not on a pedestal, but in a cage.’ ”

Download Image

Location of Entry of Cubans, Haitians and Nicaraguans

Infographic: Location of Entry of Cubans, Haitians and Nicaraguans

A chart displaying the location of entry of Cubans, Haitians and Nicaraguans to the U.S.

Download Image

Deirdre Nansen McCloskey Portrait

Prudentia: A MacDonald Magazine

Website resource for the July 25th Sphere Summit II session.

Visit: Website

Federal Budget 2022 Thumbnail

Infographic: The Federal Budget in Fiscal Year 2022

A chart displaying a breakdown of the federal budget in fiscal year 2022.

Download Image

Human Progress logo

Sphere Summit Presentation: Human Progress

A presentation on the Human Progress project and how teachers are utilizing its resources in the classroom.

Download Slides

Project Sphere

Sphere Summit Presentation: Human Progress II

A presentation on the Human Progress project and how to access related classroom content on the Sphere website.

Download Slides

Project Sphere

Sphere Summit Presentation: What Is Civil Society?

A presentation on the concept of “civil society” and how civil societies both promote and depend on the maintenance of civil discourse.

Download Slides

Moral Courage College logo

The Moral Courage College

Resources on how to effectively communicate and teach across divides, from the Moral Courage College.

Download Five Skills to Practice PDF

Download MCC Workshop PDF

Chart of median income family compared to federal debt spending from debt facts resource

Simpler Debt Facts

Easily sharable facts about the scope of U.S. government spending and the federal debt.

Download PDF

National Council of English Teachers logo

National Council of English Teachers: ELA & Civic Education

An overview of resources provided by the NCTE to support civic education.

Download PDF