Research Library

Since the first quarter of 2014, Brazil has been living in crisis mode as the result of a severe economic crisis in conjunction with an investigation into widespread corruption that has penetrated the highest offices in the government. Although the impeachment of Dilma Rousseff in 2016 did offer some hope for recovery, recent events demonstrate that Brazil's troubles are still ongoing. Contributing expert Sergio Fausto analyzes the main factors leading to this crisis and surveys the current economic and political situation.

This brief gauges the impact of India's drastic, surprise move to eliminate "black money" by requiring holders to redeem certain rupee notes by the end of the year. If not redeemed, such notes will become illegal tender.

Japan's once-booming economy has been somnolent, mainly as a result of deflation and decreased productivity. This issue brief discusses Abenomics — the country's strategy for achieving economic growth — and the headwinds created by the demographic forces of aging in Japan.

The percentage of young adults ages 18 to 34 in Texas without health insurance has dropped by 35 percent since the Affordable Care Act (ACA) went into effect.

This issue brief argues that institutional changes, along with greater representation of women in politics, are needed to combat governmental corruption in Latin America.

A larger percentage of Texas workers are getting health insurance through their employers now than before the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, according to a new report released by Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy and the Episcopal Health Foundation.

In this brief, the authors examine the link between oil and female labor force participation in the Middle East and North Africa.

Texas’ uninsured population remains primarily Hispanic, middle-aged, with low incomes and without a college degree, according to a report released July 30 by Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy and the Episcopal Health Foundation.

While the recent fiscal troubles in Greece have received much attention, the U.S. fiscal position is hardly comparable to that of Greece. However, the United States is experiencing, and will continue to experience, one of the fundamental economic costs of relatively large and persistent deficits.

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff is starting her second term in office facing economic and political problems that feed into each other. These problems can be attributed to a large extent to mistakes her administration made during her first term. Rousseff’s macroeconomic policy proved to be inconsistent, and the choices she made in some key economic sectors, especially energy, were demonstrably disastrous. Rousseff now faces the enormous challenge of reconciling the leftwing populism that led her to victory with the inescapable need to regain the trust of the most dynamic sectors of Brazilian society, including the private sector.