Experts in the News

Focusing on immigration "ties Beto O’Rourke to unpopular Biden policies,” but Gov. Greg Abbott  "did not anticipate border security being used against him as a source of inflation," said political science fellow Mark P. Jones.  

While governments representing more than half of humanity have refused to take a side, "Mexico’s neutrality is not neutral,” said Mexico Center director Tony Payan. “Mexico is poking Washington in the eye.”

Planners behind the "Ike Dike," the proposed Texas coastal barrier, should think bigger: the seawall should be built to withstand the extreme storms expected to come with climate change, said Baker Institute Rice Faculty Scholar Jim Blackburn. “They’re building for a Category 1 or 2 storm, but it’s the 3s, 4s and 5s that we should be building for as our planet warms."

Care worker co-ops could improve access to health care in low-income communities shut out by larger, higher priced, home health care services, said health policy fellow Vivian Ho. "The fewer services controlled by large, integrated networks, the better. That leads to job growth and closer contact [from workers who have] an understanding of the community they’re serving."

A bronze bust of former Secretary of State James A. Baker, III that will be part of the permanent collection of the National Museum of American Diplomacy was recently unveiled in Washington, D.C. The specially commissioned bust honors “the most important unelected official in America since World War II,” said Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the unveiling ceremony. “Thank you for being such a great leader for this country and for this department.”