Research Library

As the Budget Control Act nears expiry, it is important to reflect on its effectiveness — does the BCA provide a framework for curtailing unsustainable deficits and moving to a sustainable fiscal policy?  Read the authors' analysis at the Baker Institute Blog.

Our current economic situation is not permanent, and laws should not be altered based on the idea that domestic shutdown will last forever. However, we should remain flexible as our economy recovers.

Energy fellow Michelle Michot Foss interviews Bernard Duroc-Danner, the former CEO of EVI, Grant Prideco & Weatherford, to explore the strategic shifts for businesses in the oilfield services (OFS) industry and to address how the OFS industry must restructure itself.

Leveraging a crash in oil revenue, the Saudi government has quickly imposed unprecedented changes to the way it raises cash by increasing taxes and slashing subsidies in ways Saudi citizens once considered unthinkable.

Legislation regulating commercial transport by ship is impeding economic development and growth, the authors write. Read the post on the Baker Institute Blog.  This post originally appeared in the Forbes blog on April 9, 2020.

The authors discuss a U.S. House proposal to repeal the cap on the state and local tax deduction and why that would be a mistake, especially given the pandemic and the policy responses that should be enacted. Baker Institute Blog: https://bit.ly/3e3qHix

International and domestic oil and gas markets and prices are under heavy pressure from COVID-19 impacts and the Russian-Saudi Arabia oil market battle. With, all eyes are on U.S. domestic producers, especially those occupying the shale patch, Michelle Michot Foss, fellow in energy and minerals, provides some important considerations for the U.S. oil and gas industry. Forbes Blog: http://bit.ly/2WqVEqt

Given the uncertainty surrounding the economic effects and the poorly targeted benefits and burdens of a minimum wage, it is unlikely to be the best policy to increase the wages of low-wage workers. Fellow John Diamond explains in the Baker Institute Blog

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has signed into law a controversial "sanctuary cities" measure that allows police officers to ask people during routine stops if they are in the U.S. legally. Research analyst Pamela Cruz describes the legal fight to prevent the law's enforcement.

Aside from the massive cost of constructing a physical barrier along the entire U.S.-Mexico border, factors such as private and tribal land ownership and the impact on the environment must be taken into account.