Research Library

Over the past 40 years, we have seen a consistent pattern of war and conflict leading to the collapse of public health systems and the subsequent reemergence of deadly tropical infections. "Outbreaks have undermined the health and livelihoods of individuals, the economic growth of communities, security and ultimately the development potential of nations," writes Peter Hotez, fellow in disease and poverty. "We may now be witnessing the beginnings of a similar pattern in the Middle East and North Africa region."

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.

Genomic testing is a rapidly growing field, especially in cancer medicine, where it can be used to match patients to the most effective targeted treatment. In the past decade, we have seen rapid growth in the number of new genomic tests that are available. However, genomic testing is usually very expensive, raising the question of whether the testing is worth the cost.

Anticipation is growing as India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi prepares to release his government’s annual budget. International economics fellow Russell Green advises Modi to go big.

On Feb. 24, 2015, public finance fellow John Diamond testified on tax reform before U.S. Senate Finance Committee.

We explain a great change in the distribution of income by increased automation, which has directly replaced human labor in tasks that can be reduced to algorithms.

South America is likely facing a "second wave" of Chinese investment. How will China's rise to global economic power — and its transition to a new economic growth model — impact South America?

This report suggests the contours of a more comprehensive policy for the United States in the broader Middle East, one that pursues not only important tactical approaches to counter Islamic extremism and terrorism, but also shapes the larger strategic landscape to secure and promote U.S. interests. After defining the challenge for the United States and the international community, the report provides a brief narrative on the rise of ISIS before presenting key policy recommendations for a more strategic approach.

In 1972, a National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse, comprising establishment figures chosen mostly by President Richard Nixon himself, issued a report that declared that “neither the marihuana user nor the drug itself can be said to constitute a danger to public safety” and recommended that Congress and state legislatures decriminalize the use and casual distribution of marijuana and seek means other than prohibition to discourage use. President Nixon ignored the report and Congress declined to consider its recommendations, but during the 40-plus years since its publication, at least 37 states have acted to refashion a crazy-quilt collection of prohibitions, nearly always in the direction favored by the commission. The specifics vary by state, but most reform legislation has followed one of three formulas: decriminalization of marijuana possession, legalization of marijuana for medical use, or legalization of marijuana for adult recreational use. In this issue brief, authors Katharine Neill and William Martin examine the facts and fears surrounding each of these options.

This paper investigates how new potential and proposed regulations will influence the natural gas market in the United States in the coming decades, using the Rice World Gas Trade Model (RWGTM) to examine scenarios in which domestic natural gas development is stressed in a variety of ways. It considers a range of possible policy actions from the federal to the local level.