With a record number of hurricanes expected this season, the oil and gas industry is particularly at risk. “The Gulf Coast by itself has about half of America’s total refining capacity,” said Finley. "Gulf Coast refineries are also the reason why the United States is the largest exporter of refined products like gasoline and diesel fuel on the planet."
The rise in core capital goods spending remains a positive sign for future production and bringing inflation down, said Diamond. If the trend continues, "there won’t be as much competition for a smaller number of goods, and it’ll restrain price increases.”
The "Building Better Elections" forum co-hosted by the Carter Center and the Baker Institute on May 17 kicked off with an informative panel discussion about security and innovation in election administration moderated by Mark P. Jones.
A divided congress has made immigration a difficult topic, but an aging working population and flat or dropping fertility rates are creating space to be filled, said Payan. “It doesn’t mean we have to take in 100 million people from around the world, but there is room for a few million that can settle and revitalize” communities and the U.S. economy.
“I think there’s a lot of pressure from the Biden administration on the Lopez Obrador administration to crack down. Biden has a particular interest in deactivating immigration as a political issue in the fall, this is his Achilles heel,” said Payan. The surge in illegal migration has proven to not be “politically sustainable in Mexico, in the US, or anywhere else."