Iron and steel production are necessary for modern infrastructure, and the sector is both energy intensive and difficult to decarbonize. The authors explore new, evolving processes that could change this and potentially provide both environmental and economic benefits.
The author explains the unexpected price collapse for oil in spring 2020, elucidating how the market reacted to oversupply after a sudden drop in demand amid COVID-19 shutdowns. Read more on the Baker Institute Blog.
This post originally appeared on the Forbes blog on April 21, 2020.
The COVID-19 pandemic has compounded concerns over a U.S.-China trade deal, write the authors, but a mutual commitment to long-term purchases could be the solution. Read more on the Baker Institute Blog.
This post originally appeared in the Forbes blog on April 8, 2020.
Steven R. Miles, Kenneth B. Medlock IIIApril 10, 2020
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.
Kenneth B. Medlock III, Michelle Michot Foss, Anna B. Mikulska, Ted Loch-TemzelidesApril 9, 2020
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.
The Texas House of Representatives is considering House Bill 3256, which would legalize syringe exchange programs (SEPs) as a means of reducing the transmission of infectious and communicable diseases among people who inject drugs. On April 25, William Martin, director of the Drug Policy Program, appeared before the Texas House Committee on Public Health to testify in support of HB 3256. Martin also authored an op-ed in TribTalk supporting the establishment of SEPs.
Despite right-wing pushes for the annexation of a significant portion of the West Bank, support remains for a two-state solution to the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Yair Hirschfeld, fellow in the Center for the Middle East, analyzes Israel's political environment in this post on the Baker Institute Blog.
Drug policy has experienced an interesting shift recently. Along with legalization of medical and recreational marijuana, many states are also reducing penalties for nonviolent drug offenses and placing greater focus on treatment for drug users. The emphasis on treatment and rehabilitation for drug users is the result of many factors, including recognition that the drug war has not reduced drug use, a desire to reduce the prison population and save money, and a surge in the rate of overdoses from opioid and heroin use. What remains to be seen is whether the current popularity of drug treatment will become a more permanent feature of drug policy. In this Baker Institute Viewpoints series, five experts on drug policy examine the question, “Is the current emphasis on treatment in drug policy a short-term trend or is it here to stay?”
Katharine Neill Harris, William MartinDecember 19, 2014
George Zodrow, the Cline Professor of Economics at Rice University and a Rice faculty scholar at the Baker Institute, is interviewed in State Tax Notes, providing expert insight on state tax policies, including thoughts on the looming tax relief debate in the next session of the Texas legislature.