Research Library

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, once barred from entering the U.S., is getting a rock star welcome on his first trip here since being elected in May. “Am I the only India follower who is bored with Modi’s spectacle of a U.S. visit?” asks international economics fellow Russell Green. “The glitz is fun, but I am an economic policy wonk, and from my perspective, there is little to capture the imagination.”

Narendra Modi was sworn in as India’s new prime minister on Monday, a little over a week after a landslide victory at the polls. The resounding win gives Modi much greater freedom to implement his agenda than any Indian leader in recent years, says international economics fellow Russell Green. What will Modi’s India look like, and how will it affect the U.S.? Green, who spent four years in India as the U.S. Treasury Department’s first financial attaché to that country, explains.

European finance ministers have agreed to the final pieces that will create a banking union and a fund that can be used to rescue failing EU member banks — a big step forward for European financial stability. International economics fellow Russell Green explains in the Baker Institute Blog.

The past few months have seen extraordinary progress in financial sector reforms in India. Why now, near the end of the current government’s term?

A proposed inflation targeting (IT) approach to monetary policy has generated vigorous debate in India, where inflation has not dropped much below 10 percent for the past eight years.

With Comptroller Susan Combs’ announcement that she will not run for re-election in 2014, the Texas Republican Party faces the undesirable prospect of an all male slate candidates for statewide executive offices. Political science fellow Mark P. Jones discusses prospective female candidates and what an all male slate could mean for the Texas GOP.

The election of Argentine Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio as pope underscores the growing importance of Latin America for the Roman Catholic Church. Mark P. Jones, the Joseph D. Jamail Chair in Latin American Studies, discusses the significance of Pope Francis' election for the church's future.