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.
As we transition to a 21st-century power grid fueled by renewable energy and controlled by electronics, ensuring the reliability and stability of power supplies will be key. In this issue brief, nonresident scholar Julie A. Cohn explores recent developments and historical analogues crucial for a successful grid transition.
Is the electric grid ready for the era of decarbonization? Nonresident scholar Julie A. Cohn explains why new inverter technology could prove vital for preventing outages and grid instability.
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
As iron ore, copper, and lithium producers, Brazil and Chile have a competitive advantage in the global energy transition. This brief outlines the countries' opportunities to profit from their exports while reducing their domestic consumption of fossil fuels.
With its significant reserves of critical metals and other geographic advantages, Chile is well positioned to help enable the energy transition. The authors discuss the country's leveraging of its copper and lithium resources and its growing trade with China.
The first of a two-part series on the centenary of the Chinese Communist Party analyzes the rise to power of President Xi Jinping and his use of propaganda to transform a celebration of the CCP into a celebration of China and its leader.
As a potential producer and exporter of green hydrogen — a fuel that can be burned without producing greenhouse gas emissions — Chile is at the forefront of the global energy transition. However, becoming a major exporter of green hydrogen is not without its challenges, writes the author.
In this issue brief, the authors examine the amount of growth and transactional venture capital (VC) in Houston, finding the the city lacks sufficient levels of growth VC needed to support its goals of establishing a high-growth, high technology startup ecosystem.
This issue brief offers insights into the evolution and future of Mexico's Comprehensive Plan for the Southern Border to stem migration flows from Central America.