As a result of the 2013 energy reform, oil and gas companies completing projects in Mexico must now meet mandatory requirements to utilize local goods and services suppliers.
The authors analyze the legislative framework in place to enforce the local content requirement and the economic implications of the policy.
Criminal extortion is on the rise in Mexico, particularly along the northern border states. Author Gary Hale shows how this trend has
fueled government corruption, with officials implicitly or explicitly aiding organized crime groups as they extort businesses and citizens.
This paper argues that the Texas social studies curriculum does not offer balanced coverage of world religions, due in large part to intervention by conservative members of the Texas State Board of Education. The paper identifies examples of imbalanced coverage in social studies texts and offers recommendations for broadening coverage of religion in Texas public schools.
This working paper is one of a series submitted for the Oct. 1, 2015, Baker Institute event "Currency Policy Then and Now: 30th Anniversary of the Plaza Accord."
Russell Green, David H. Papell, Ruxandra ProdanSeptember 16, 2015
After decades of underinvestment, Mexico's natural gas pipeline network faces severe limitations in capacity and geographical coverage, leading to limitations in meeting domestic demand. To correct this, the government has launched an aggressive program to upgrade natural gas transport capabilities. The natural gas infrastructure program and energy reform are designed in part to help decrease Mexico’s reliance on imports of fertilizers (urea) and basic food staples, which stand at approximately 70 percent and 43 percent of domestic consumption, respectively. Increasing natural gas production and infrastructure will contribute to gains in ammonia and nitrogen fertilizer production, which would in turn have a positive impact on Mexico’s agroindustry.
This working paper constructs a new general equilibrium model of the U.S. economy that is better able to analyze energy and gross receipts taxes than previous models.
Drug policy fellow Gary Hale discusses the Jan. 31, 2012, Senate testimony of James R. Clapper, U.S. chief of national intelligence, in which he indicates that Mexico and violent events in that country are not specific threats to the United States.
Government attacks on the infrastructure of the Gulf cartel and the Zetas in recent years are concrete examples of Mexico's efforts to retake its northeastern states from the hands of drug traffickers.