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.
John W. Diamond, Autumn EngebretsonFebruary 4, 2021
Is Mexico's President López Obrador, a Trump fan, capable of making the changes needed for a new and different relationship with the U.S.? The authors examine López Obrador's early moves, which portend a difficult four years.
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.
John W. Diamond, Autumn EngebretsonDecember 14, 2020
A decision by a Japanese streaming company to suspend operations in China is the latest iteration in China’s war for influence over soft power cultural products from other countries. Even more surprising, it ended with a loss for China.
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
The populist government under President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has largely discounted the threat of COVID-19, and the true extent of the outbreak Mexico may not yet be known. If conditions significantly change for the worse, the president faces not only a public health crisis but also the possible undoing of the country's populist experiment.
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
The massacre in El Paso is a symbol of complex social phenomena that we are experiencing today — and is not simply a matter of mental health, as Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and other politicians have stepped forward to suggest. Read more at the Baker Institute Blog.
Days after the attacks on the World Trade Center, William Martin, the Harry and Hazel Chavanne Senior Fellow in Religion and Public Policy and Chavanne Emeritus Professor in Rice’s Department of Sociology, spoke to a gathering of Rice University students, faculty and staff. These are his remarks.
