A social safety net in the form of unemployment benefits, job training, etc. can help cushion the blow for workers when economic events beyond their control (like the Covid-19 pandemic) cause companies to shed workers, writes Mark Finley, fellow in energy and global oil.
Leveraging a crash in oil revenue, the Saudi government has quickly imposed unprecedented changes to the way it raises cash by increasing taxes and slashing subsidies in ways Saudi citizens once considered unthinkable.
As oil prices start to recover, analysts are cautiously beginning to ask whether we’ve turned a corner — but for the weeks ahead, continued inventory builds pose significant risks of renewed price declines.
Energy fellow Mark Finley argues that the best way to support the U.S. oil and gas industry is to promote open and fair competition, even though conventional resources are cheaper to produce in Saudi Arabia and Russia. Forbes blog: https://bit.ly/2wWB3jz
Despite the Trump administration sentiment that the U.S. partner with Saudi Arabia in a joint oil alliance, such an approach is unlikely to be successful, write energy fellows Jim Krane and Mark Finley. Forbes blog: https://bit.ly/2WUa6rb
"With the U.S. and Iran staggering toward war, it bears asking: How would U.S. interests be served by war with Iran?" writes fellow Jim Krane. Read his argument for why U.S. interests would be deeply undermined by any such war on the Baker Institute Blog.
This post originally appeared in the Forbes Blog on June 17, 2019.
Saudi Arabia recently ended its legal ban on women driving. The long-term consequences of this change on transportation, energy, labor, and health remain unclear, write fellows Farhan Majid and Jim Krane in an op-ed for the Houston Chronicle: https://bit.ly/2Lrqnja
The authors examine new legislation in Tunisia aimed at increasing protections for women, such as repealing the country’s “marry-your-rapist” law as well as criminalizing marital rape and domestic violence.
Five years after the Jasmine Revolution, Tunisia stands alone as the only country in North Africa where the Arab Spring has led to significant reforms and a democratic transition. Reservations have been voiced, however, on the gender equality provisions in the country’s revised constitution.
Tunisia is widely regarded as having one of the most liberal approaches to family law and women’s rights in the region. Yet for nearly 60 years of authoritarian rule — as women’s rights were championed in public discourse, in national legislation and on the international scene — the government did not hesitate to brutalize women through torture and other gross human rights violations, according to more than 15,000 testimonies recently collected by a Tunisian state commission.