More than a decade after G20 representatives pledged to phase out fossil fuel subsidies, significant barriers to a full retraction remain. This paper examines the political and social rationale behind fossil fuel subsidies, the factors that make them so difficult to retract, and offers policy recommendations aimed at easing the path to subsidy reform.
Understanding the strategic and tactical considerations of Saudi Arabia will be the key factor for the success of U.S. policy in the wake of the oil price crash and Covid-19 outbreak.
Mark Finley, Jim Krane, Kenneth B. Medlock IIIApril 5, 2020
This report, produced in collaboration with the University of Houston's Hobby School of Public Affairs, analyzes findings of a survey on Houstonians’ views on the candidates in the Houston mayoral race: http://bit.ly/2PavYL9.
Mark P. Jones, Renee Cross, Richard Murray, Agustín VallejoOctober 20, 2019
Recent developments in the oil kingdoms of the Middle East demonstrate that rentier governments are engaging their citizens with energy policymaking in ways that do not follow rentier state theory, writes fellow Jim Krane.
A newly released study from the Project on Middle East Political Science at George Washington University includes a contribution from fellow Jim Krane on subsidy reform and tax increases in the Middle East.
Saudi Arabia’s massive hydrocarbon endowment and ownership of Islamic holy sites have created a unique political economy. In this research paper, energy fellow Jim Krane explores established policy practices and assesses Saudi Arabia’s emerging strategy for future participation in the oil business.
The Center for Energy Studies at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy and the Qatar Leadership Centre hosted a roundtable on February 15-16, 2017, in Doha, Qatar, to discuss some of the most pressing challenges facing market participants in the global energy landscape, with a focus on several issues of paramount interest to Qatar and the broader Gulf Cooperation Council.
Kenneth B. Medlock III, Jim Krane, Francisco J. Monaldi, Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, Gabriel CollinsSeptember 5, 2017
The relationship between the United States and its Gulf allies has evolved in important ways since President Jimmy Carter’s 1980 declaration of American “vital interests” in the Persian Gulf — the “Carter Doctrine” — and while many circumstances have changed, the rationale for maintaining U.S. protection for Gulf oil supplies remains strong, authors Gabriel Collins and Jim Krane write in this paper.
Confusion over the Texas' voter I.D. law may have kept some people from casting a ballot in the 2016 elections, even though most could have complied, according to a study led by political science fellow Mark Jones. Latino voters were affected most significantly.
Mark P. Jones, Renee Cross, Jim GranatoApril 10, 2017