Research Library

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?

This issue brief highlights the potential collaboration between Arab countries and China in dealing with the global energy transition, and examines the energy transition from the perspectives of the world's largest economy (China) and richest hydrocarbon region (the Middle East).

Since all parties involved will undoubtedly bear the consequences of Trump's highly problematic Peace to Prosperity plan, it is worth examining its framework and how Israelis, Palestinians and Arab states can navigate the negotiation process.

This brief assesses the consequences of the Trump administration’s new policy on Israeli settlements in the West Bank, particularly within the context of past legal arguments and the stances of six previous U.S. presidential administrations.

The authors explain why unilateral annexation of the West Bank by Israel would have pernicious and lasting consequences, leading Israel to an unprecedented crisis of delegitimization, enhanced demonization and isolation.

This issue brief presents the results of a dynamic model similar in nature to the macroeconomic models used by the Congressional Budget Office and Joint Committee on Taxation in evaluating the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. The model shows a modest decline in wealth inequality due to the corporate tax cuts in the TCJA.

A deadly virus named MERS has spread from Saudi Arabia to over a dozen countries since 2012. While the chances for widespread infection are remote due to the virus's low human-to-human transmission rate, all governments should nevertheless support academic freedom and scientific collaboration to keep local outbreaks of viruses like MERS from becoming serious pandemics.