FORA.tv Speaker - Michael Tanner

As director of Cato's health and welfare studies, Michael Tanner heads research on new, market-based approaches to health, welfare and Social Security. His approach is based on individual responsibility rather than government control.

His most recent book, Leviathan on the Right: How Big-Government Conservatism Brought Down the Republican Revolution (2007), chronicles the demise of the Republican party as it has shifted away from its limited government roots and warns that reform is necessary to avoid electoral defeat in 2008.

Under Tanner's direction, Cato launched the Project on Social Security Choice, which is widely considered the leading impetus for transforming the soon-to-be-bankrupt system into a private savings program. Time Magazine calls Tanner, "one of the architects of the private accounts movement," and Congressional Quarterly named him one of the nation's five most influential experts on Social Security.

In addition to his work on Social Security, Tanner oversees Cato's research on new, market-based approaches to health care reform and social welfare programs.