Cato Institute

The Cato Institute is a public policy research organization at 1000 Massachusetts Avenue NW in Washington, DC. Cato dates its own founding to 1977; the IRS ruling recognising the exempt entity is dated March 1975. For the 2024 tax year it reported total revenue of $71.9 million and total assets of$172.2 million, up from $32.5 million and$85.6 million in 2020. Peter Goettler is president and CEO.

Stated mission

Cato describes itself as “an assiduously nonpartisan and independent public policy research organization — or think tank — that creates a presence for and promotes libertarian ideas in policy debates,” and states its mission as to “keep the principles, ideas, and moral case for liberty alive for future generations, while moving public policy in the direction of individual liberty, limited government, free markets, and peace.”

Research areas

Cato organises its published work into four areas: constitution and law (constitutional law, criminal justice, free speech and civil liberties); economics (banking and finance, monetary policy, regulation, tax and budget policy); international (defense and foreign policy, global freedom, immigration, trade policy); and politics and society, which includes a standing technology and privacy programme. It also runs a public opinion research programme that publishes its own survey reports.

Relevance to digital political discourse

Cato maintains a standing technology and privacy issue area alongside free speech and civil liberties, and publishes its research, survey reports and commentary free on its own site and through podcasts and video.