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Randal O'Toole
Senior Fellow
Randal O'Toole is a Cato Institute Senior Fellow working on urban growth, public land, and transportation issues. O'Toole's research on national forest management, culminating in his 1988 book, Reforming the Forest Service, has had a major influence on Forest Service policy and on-the-ground management. His analysis of urban land-use and transportation issues, brought together in his 2001 book, The Vanishing Automobile and Other Urban Myths, has influenced decisions in cities across the country. In his book The Best-Laid Plans, O'Toole calls for repealing federal, state, and local planning laws and proposes reforms that can help solve social and environmental problems without heavy-handed government regulation. O'Toole's latest book is American Nightmare: How Government Undermines The Dream of Homeownership. O'Toole is the author of numerous Cato papers. He has also written for Regulation magazine as well as op-eds and articles for numerous other national journals and newspapers. O'Toole travels extensively and has spoken about free-market environmental issues in dozens of cities. An Oregon native, O'Toole was educated in forestry at Oregon State University and in economics at the University of Oregon.
Media Contact: 202-789-5200
To Book a Speaking Engagement: 202-789-5269
E-Mail: rotoole@cato.org
Books and Book Chapters
American Nightmare: How Government Undermines The Dream of Homeownership, (2012)
Gridlock: Why We're Stuck in Traffic and What to Do About It, (2010)
"Housing Policy," Chapter 22 of the Cato Handbook for Policymakers, 7th edition.
"Interior Department and Public Lands," Chapter 23 of the Cato Handbook for Policymakers, 7th edition.
"Surface Transportation Policy," Chapter 24 of the Cato Handbook for Policymakers, 7th edition.
Cato Studies
"Stopping the Runaway Train: The Case for Privatizing Amtrak," Policy Analysis no. 712, November 13, 2012.
"The Great Streetcar Conspiracy," Policy Analysis no. 699, June 14, 2012.
"Ending Congestion by Refinancing Highways," Policy Analysis no. 695, May 15, 2012.
"Intercity Buses: The Forgotten Mode," Policy Analysis no. 680, June 29, 2011.
"Crony Capitalism and Social Engineering: The Case against Tax-Increment Financing," Policy Analysis no. 676, May 18, 2011.
Articles and Newsletters
"The Streetcar Scam," Special Report, The John K. MacIver Institute for Public Policy, May 31, 2012.
"Taking Illinoisans for a Ride," Illinois Policy Institute Brief, July 9, 2009.
"Why Government Planning Always Fails," Cato's Letter, vol. 6, no. 1, Winter 2008.
Opinion and Commentary
"Subsidies Make Streetcars Costly," MySanAntonio.com, December 3, 2012
"MARTA Hardly Indispensable," Atlanta Journal-Constitution, September 24, 2012
"Timber Payments Subisidize Counties at Taxpayers' Expense," Mail Tribune, July 15, 2012
"Homeowners Need to Take Responsibility," The New York Times (Online), July 11, 2012
"America's Ruling Class Is Much Bigger than the '1 Percent'," Philadelphia Inquirer, June 14, 2012
Cato @ Liberty Blog Posts
"A Nation in Decline?," November 7, 2012
"Privatize or Contract Out?," September 26, 2012
"Amtrak Shrugged," September 21, 2012
"The Truth about the GM and Chrysler Bailouts," September 6, 2012
"Denver Fools the Wall Street Journal," July 25, 2012
Events
"Saving Urban Transit from the Federal Government," June 14, 2012 [Capitol Hill Briefing]
"The Death and Life of Affordable Housing," June 13, 2012 [Policy Forum]
"The Future of Federal Highway Finance: Diversions, Deficits, or Devolution?," May 17, 2012 [Policy Forum]
"American Nightmare: How Government Undermines the Dream of Homeownership," May 16, 2012 [Book Forum]
"Transportation Reauthorization: The Privatization Option," July 14, 2011 [Capitol Hill Briefing]
Speeches and Testimony
"Comments on Notice of Proposed Rulemaking: Major Capital Investment Projects," March 5, 2012.
"Comments on Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking," July 15, 2010.
"On Transit and Climate," July 7, 2009.
"Why Government Planning Always Fails," September 29, 2007.
Multimedia
Randal O'Toole's study on streetcars is cited on WOAI AM's San Antonio's First News w/ Charlie Parker (November 29, 2012) [Media Highlights - Radio, 02:41]
Randal O'Toole's study on streetcars is cited on WOAI's News 4 at 6pm (November 29, 2012) [Media Highlights - TV, 02:03]
Randal O'Toole gives a lecture on housing, infrastructure and land use at the North Dakota Policy Council (November 3, 2012) [Media Highlights - TV, 39:44]
Randal O'Toole discusses his Cato policy analysis The Great Streetcar Conspiracy on KTCN's Davis and Emmer in the Morning (October 2, 2012) [Media Highlights - Radio, 19:21]
Randal O'Toole discusses his new book American Nightmare on WIBA's Outside the Box w/ Mitch Henck (September 12, 2012) [Media Highlights - Radio, 09:57]
© Cato Institute, 2012