Research Library

In June 2023, the international boundary treaty governing the U.S.-Mexico border came under attack from Gov. Greg Abbott’s Operation Lonestar. In a new research paper, nonresident scholars Stephen Mumme and Regina M. Buono outline the treaty’s history and examine key issues — advising on merits of recent challenges and long-term implications for the binational relationship between the United States and Mexico.

In an extension of an earlier analysis prepared for the American Action Forum, the authors use the Diamond-Zodrow computable general equilibrium model of the U.S. economy to simulate the macroeconomic effects of a 10-year fiscal plan financed by tax changes proposed by Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign.

In this paper, authors examine the concerns raised by a new wealth tax and analyze the economic effects of the tax using a computable general equilibrium model.

Public finance fellow John Diamond and Rice faculty scholar George Zodrow analyze the short- and long-term economic effects of a federal carbon tax in the United States.

A numerical simulation of the macroeconomic effects of the House Republican Tax Reform plan, using the Diamond-Zodrow model, suggests that its net macroeconomic effects would be positive.

The authors examine the potential dynamic fiscal effects of revising or completely eliminating the home mortgage interest deduction.

This paper analyzes access to water in Mexico in the context of the country’s energy reform, including social conflicts that may arise from opposing environmental and energy priorities.

What structural and nonstructural solutions could better protect the Houston-Galveston area from the devastating impact of hurricanes and severe storms? Baker Institute fellows Jim Blackburn and Regina Buono studied the issue from legal, policy and governmental perspectives.

This paper reports the key climate change and public policy issues addressed by guest speakers during the 2014-15 Climate Lecture Series hosted by the Center for Energy Studies.

This paper examines the effects of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that a one-time retroactive British “Windfall Tax” levied on 32 public utilities that were privatized between 1984 and 1996 was eligible for the US foreign tax credit (FTC). The decision could have far-reaching implications for the creditability of taxes that are not ordinarily thought to be income taxes, including various cash-flow business taxes that are key elements of several proposals recommending replacement of the income tax with a consumption-based tax.