For its numerous failings, facial recognition technology is proving to have surprisingly invasive capabilities. Matthew Feeney details the latest. Featuring Matthew Feeney and Caleb O. Brown ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AemboaXnj5o

On April 8, 2020, the Cato Institute hosted the event “The Economics of Lockdowns.” The spring 2020 shutdown regulations were unusual in the sheer scale of their impacts on economic and social welfare. Yet one year on, public policy decisions pertaining to the pandemic have continued to be unusually consequential, including the ordering and distribution of vaccines and the passing of major “stimulus” packages. To mark the publication of Economics in One Virus: An Introduction to Economic Reasoning through COVID-19 by the Cato Institute’s Ryan Bourne, this book forum will discuss what we’ve learned about public policy and the economic reasoning that has informed it over the past year. In particular, the forum will assess the extent to which the tragic death toll and economic damage we’ve seen during the pandemic can be laid at the door of important decisions being underpinned by faulty economic reasoning. Featuring... + John Cochrane (@JohnHCochrane), Rose‐​Marie and Jack Anderson Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University; Adjunct Scholar, Cato Institute; blogger, The Grumpy Economist + Megan McArdle (@asymmetricinfo) Columnist, Washington Post + Alex Tabarrok (@ATabarrok), Bartley J. Madden Chair in Economics, Mercatus Center; professor of economics, George Mason University; blogger, Marginal Revolution + moderated by Ryan Bourne (@MrRBourne), R. Evan Scharf Chair for the Public Understanding of Economics, Cato Institute. Join the conversation and tweet questions using #CatoBooks. MORE INFORMATION: https://www.cato.org/events/economics-one-virus-what-have-we-learned GET THE BOOK: https://www.cato.org/books/economics-one-virus ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAmbsKV5jvo

In Mexico's deadly war on drugs, the use of information technology has become widespread. For instance, once journalists became targets of the cartels and reduced their reporting in traditional media, information began flowing from Facebook pages, Twitter accounts, and YouTube videos. After the Mexican government decided to stop publishing information about the number of people killed by organized crime, websites started using Google Maps to track patterns of violence. Andrés Monroy-Hernández and Javier Osorio will present their research on the use of new media and technology in reporting and finding trends in drug violence in Mexico. Karla Zabludovsky of the New York Times's Mexico City Bureau will comment on the role that alternative media has played in the coverage of the war on drugs. Video produced by Blair Gwaltney. ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMM4gfXDW58

"If the Cato Institute weren't there, it would be just the typical left/right spectrum that we've heard about going back for probably the last 50 years or so." — Deroy Murdock, Contirbuting Editor, National Review Forty years ago, the Cato Institute opened its doors. See a timeline of our milestones, read about the future of liberty, and more: https://www.cato.org/cato40. Then, join the conversation with #Cato40. ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-xlxQrHYkQ