Despite a cap on Houston’s property tax collections, these taxes have outpaced population growth and inflation, writes fellow John W. Diamond. This issue brief examines the rise in property tax revenues and proposes strategies for maintaining a sustainable city budget.
Yemen’s Houthi have mounted a selective counter-shipping campaign in the Red Sea that has disrupted global trade between Asia and Europe. In a new issue brief, fellow Jim Krane describes how the attacks have triggered major shipping delays and expenses for firms based in countries friendly to Israel — effectively acting as economic sanctions and demonstrating the power of a non-state actor to undermine global norms around freedom of navigation.
How can “Food is Medicine” programs address the critical link between access to healthy food and optimal health? In a new brief, our experts outline how the Texas Consortium for the Non-Medical Drivers of Health is tackling this question.
Shreela V. Sharma, Naomi Tice, Rebecca Mak, Jacquie Klotz, Elena M. MarksNovember 27, 2023
This brief reviews federal and Texas specific policies and regulation to support the integration of non-medical services into health care payment systems.
Elena M. Marks, Jacquie Klotz, Rebecca MakJune 8, 2023
With the 2023 debt-ceiling negotiations under way, a new issue brief from John Diamond, director of the Center for Public Finance, and Autumn Engebretson looks at the effectiveness of the Budget Control Act 2011, enacted in response to the 2011 debt-ceiling crisis. Did it in fact control the budget? And could similar legislation work now?
John W. Diamond, Autumn EngebretsonFebruary 16, 2023
President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has backfired in many ways. For one, it’s leading to a diminished Russian energy export economy and spurring Europe to a clean energy future, writes fellow Jim Krane.
The authors examine the recent attacks on oil infrastructure in Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf nations to shed light on the current state of U.S.-Gulf strategic relations and the potential directions of its evolution in coming years.
In June 2018, Saudi Arabia finally put an end to its legal ban on women driving, opening the way for millions of new drivers to navigate across a country three times bigger than Texas. While the long-overdue policy shift provides relief to women who lacked freedom of mobility, the onset of so many new drivers has enormous consequences for transportation and the energy sector, as well as labor market participation and public health.
This paper examines the progress of energy subsidy reforms in the Persian Gulf, documenting policy changes in all six monarchies and briefly examining the role of energy and the state.
While the recent fiscal troubles in Greece have received much attention, the U.S. fiscal position is hardly comparable to that of Greece. However, the United States is experiencing, and will continue to experience, one of the fundamental economic costs of relatively large and persistent deficits.