The Cato Institute announced today that the Fall 2021 edition of the Cato Journal, one of its longest-running projects, will be the final publication.

Cato will begin publishing a new digital magazine, titled Free Society, in March of next year. Jason Kuznicki will edit the new quarterly journal, which will feature commentary on politics, economics, and culture from a libertarian perspective.

The first issue of the Cato Journal, an interdisciplinary journal that provides analysis on a wide range of public policy questions, was launched in 1981. Cato Vice President James A. Dorn has served as editor since 1982.

“Our goal with the Cato Journal has always been to publish articles that meet high scholarly standards, that are well written and accessible to a wide readership, and that offer market-liberal solutions to complex policy issues,” said Dorn. “I think we met those goals, and I am grateful that the Journal will continue to be available online and serve as a valuable research tool for years to come.”

From the beginning, the Cato Journal, published from Cato’s then-headquarters in San Francisco, focused in on what would become central to the Institute’s mission: Providing clear analysis of the most significant policy challenges facing the country, and doing it free of political favor to either side.

The inaugural issue contained articles on energy considerations in U.S foreign policy, taxation and income redistribution, and the public and private interest in wilderness protection. Later issues included contributions from Milton Friedman, Alan Greenspan, Lawrence Summers, Anna J. Schwartz and June O’Neill, among other luminaries in public policy.

“From 1981 on the Cato Journal made clear that the Cato Institute was going to explore public policy issues at a high level. Under Jim Dorn’s direction the journal featured scholars and policymakers from around the world and across a broad political spectrum,” said Cato Executive Vice President David Boaz. “Pioneering scholars such as Peter Bauer, Garrett Hardin, Earl Ravenal, and Robert Mundell contributed in the early years, followed in later decades by Mancur Olson, William Niskanen, Justin Yifu Lin, Steven Cheung, Julian Simon, Deirdre McCloskey, Scott Sumner, Giovanni Peri, John B. Taylor, George Tavlas, Deepak Lal, Miranda Xafa, Luigi Zingales, Eswar Prasad, Mao Yushi, Judy Shelton, Hester Peirce, Alberto Mingardi, and many others.”

Articles from Cato Journal have contributed to news coverage of issues of the day through citations in major news stories over the duration of its run, including the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Associated Press, Los Angeles Times, The Economist, New York Times, CNN and NPR.

Clive Crook, a former editor at The Economist and the Atlantic, has called Cato Journal “the most consistently interesting and provocative journal of its kind,” while Milton Friedman considered it to be “exceptional in consistently publishing articles that combine scholarly excellence with policy relevance.”