The author reviews key provisions of the retirement bill passed by the U.S. House, considering the impacts on workers. Read the post on the Baker Institute Blog.
On August 31, 2021, Energy Dialogues and the Center for Energy Studies hosted the Houston Energy Dialogues for the fifth consecutive year. Co-sponsors of this event were Sempra LNG, Schlumberger and Validere. As in previous years, the dialogues provided a platform for in-depth conversations about the energy industry involving representatives from government, industry, academia, environmental groups and regulatory bodies. Resiliency was a central theme. This report summarizes the day's discussions.
Last week, the Joe Biden administration released a long-awaited executive order containing a government-wide outline for digital assets, focusing on cryptocurrency. The guidance is a welcome and timely development for both regulators and investors.
The authors review the impact of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), a government initiative that allowed small businesses to apply for low-interest loans during the COVID-19 pandemic. While the PPP helped cover employment-related expenses and mitigated unemployment for some businesses, it remained inaccessible to others, they conclude.
The authors examine how vertical market structures impact the way a tax affects gas prices, using data from gas station contracts with a major Spanish refiner. Find the article in The Economic Journal.
Raúl Bajo Buenestado, Miguel Ángel Borrella-MasJanuary 27, 2022
Whereas the process for Canada, Mexico and the U.S. to resolve disputes under NAFTA proved highly ineffective, the equivalent procedures under the USMCA are working very well, explains David Gantz. Read his post on the Baker Institute Blog.
The authors take a realistic look at what's needed for the global energy transition to succeed and warn that moving away from fossil fuels too quickly could backfire — stranding climate progress in the so-called “valley of death.”
Gabriel Collins, Michelle Michot FossJanuary 27, 2022
Many climate policy approaches place a disproportionate burden on lower-income families, writes fellow Mark Finley. Political leaders have started to recognize that climate policy must approach fossil fuels and energy transition as an “AND”, not an “either/or”, and that the distributional impact of policy must also be addressed. Read more on the Baker Institute Blog.
This post originally appeared in the Forbes blog on January 26, 2022.
"With the pressures of climate change and the urgency to incorporate alternative energy resources like wind and solar, the fixation on the purported benefits of energy transition technologies overshadows the glaring reality — an absence of strategy around identifying and quantifying other life cycle externalities, such as waste disposal or environmental impacts," write fellow Rachel Meidl and research assistant Mathilde Saada. Read more on the Baker Institute Blog.