Research Library

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).

An increasing number of states have begun to contemplate state-administered individual retirement account programs. How do these differ from employer-sponsored plans? And would they be able to provide workers with meaningful retirement savings? Public finance fellow Joyce Beebe explains.

Protests in Iran following the death of Mahsa Amini show no signs of abating. Fellow Kelsey Norman explores the origin of women’s discontent in Iran and offers an analysis of how the protests may ultimately play out.

Fellow Joyce Beebe explores the tax scams featured on the IRS' "Dirty Dozen" list in this two-part brief series.

Expert Heidi Russell analyzes the economic impacts of relaxing vaccination requirements for children and finds that as immunization rates decline, the costs of an outbreak increase.

A comparison of the prices at three major Houston hospitals — Houston Methodist, St. Luke’s Health and Memorial Hermann — associated with Blue Cross Blue Shield and UnitedHealthcare PPO health plans finds wide-ranging costs for services.

Political, market and geopolitical headwinds have slowed down Biden’s ambitious climate plans, write energy experts Anna Mikulska and Michael Maher. In this brief, they explore why progress on decarbonization is likely to be more gradual than initially envisioned.

ISIS-K, a branch of the Islamic State in Afghanistan, has maintained a steady stream of violent attacks in the country over the last year. But the group may actually be organizationally weak, writes Zwan Visiting Fellow Fazal Muzhary.

This brief outlines how the Small Business Administration's long-standing 7(a) loan program can build upon the lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic to strengthen its operations and impact.