Research Library

With the rise of the gig economy has come an increase in concerns about tax compliance. This blog post reviews two recent changes to tax reporting rules for the sharing economy sector — the comeback of Form 1099-NEC and a reduction in the reporting threshold of Form 1099-K — and their implications for tax administration and reporting.

Baker Institute Rice Faculty Scholar and University Professor Moshe Vardi analyzes three recent crises — the 2021 winter storm in Texas, the COVID-19 pandemic and the Boeing 737 Max software failure — that highlight the cost of valuing efficiency over resilience and provide lessons for bringing society into balance.

Some states still face challenges with racial and ethnic disparities in COVID-19 vaccine distribution, and Texas is one of them. How might we avoid these inequities in the future?  The authors explain in the Baker Institute Blog.

Ken Medlock explains why the price of WTI crude collapsed into previously unchartered, negative territory on April 20, 2020, and what to expect next. Read his post in the Baker Institute Blog.  This blog originally appeared in Forbes on April 21, 2020.

Advanced recycling of plastics can help the U.S. achieve sustainability goals and a climate-neutral, circular economy.

The U.S. oil, gas and coal industry largely rose and fell based on global economic and energy market conditions rather than federal energy and environmental policies implemented by the Trump administration, write the authors. As the world recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic, they expect markets to continue to shape the future of the oil and gas industry. Read more on the Baker Institute Blog.

The atmospheric concentration of sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) — the most potent greenhouse gas known to humanity and a chemical that is frequently used as an electrical insulator — is growing and thereby contributing to global warming. In a post for the Baker Institute blog, experts from the Center for Energy Studies explain whether we should be worried and what can be done to mitigate the risks.

The relationship between President Joe Biden and Mexico's President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has not been easy, and emerging trade issues are about to make it worse.

The current situation at the U.S.-Mexico border is neither a unique crisis nor the result (yet) of President Biden’s policy changes.

What are Mexico's prospects for immigration, trade and more, after President Andrés Manuel López Obrador's virtual meeting with President Biden? "Mexico will have to do some heavy lifting," predicts Tony Payan, director of the Center for the United States and Mexico.