Experts in the News

If the new trade deal works over time, "it will raise the wages of a lot of Mexican workers. That's one area where he and Mr. Trump pretty much think alike, because Mr. Trump thinks if you raise Mexican wages, fewer people will move the factories or expand their factories in Mexico," said fellow David Gantz.

More than 18% of Texans are uninsured, the highest rate in the country. “Even if patients are getting free or reduced care, someone has to pay for it,” said Marah Short, associate director of the Center for Health and Biosciences. “That is raising the cost for everyone.”

The peace plan revealed on Tuesday cannot succeed without the involvement of the Palestinians, said Ambassador Edward Djerejian. "In the past we had the Israelis and the Palestinians either indirectly or in direct negotiations ... It seems to me [the plan] is more about politics — domestic politics in Israel and maybe even domestic politics in our country where the president is under impeachment, and he's coming up to an election and wants to table this and move on."

"This is a great collaboration. But vaccine development is not a fast process, and it's not clear whether we would have a vaccine ready to use before this current epidemic ends," said fellow Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine (BCM). Hotez's group at the Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development at BCM is working to develop the vaccine with other U.S. institutions such as the University of Texas Medical Branch and the New York Blood Center, and with the Virology Center at Fudan University in Shanghai, China.

“If foreign companies like Chevron leave Venezuela, [the country's] oil industry could virtually fall into the hands of the Russians,” said energy fellow Francisco Monaldi.