Research Library

A survey of Houston area high school students finds the highest levels of depression occur among older students and transgender youth. This issue brief from the Child Health Policy Program explains how demographic factors affect survey outcomes, noting that school absenteeism and behavioral issues are also associated with students’ poor mental health.

The Office of the United States Trade Representative recently stepped back from ongoing negotiations on digital trade at the World Trade Organization, citing unsettled domestic policy, and suspended support for digital trade rules in the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework too. But if the U.S. wants to be a part of the conversation, it should reengage and help craft rules flexible enough to meet its future domestic policy needs, writes nonresident fellow Simon Lester.

What if we could bridge the gap between science and practice to help adolescents transform their lives? Nonresident fellows Lilian Dindo and Jan Lindsay share a plan to expand mental health access, strengthen parity, and promote the well-being of young people post COVID-19.

Despite recent claims that “free trade is dead,” fellow Simon Lester explains that America was never close to anything resembling free trade in the first place. Instead, current U.S. trade policy, just like past policy, reflects a messy mix of free market and industrial policy views.

Young people in the U.S. face an unprecedented mental health crisis. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated rates of depression, anxiety and suicide among adolescents that were already at historically high levels before the pandemic. Since 2020, mental health-related emergency room visits have increased 31% among adolescents while suicide rates among teenagers increased 25%.

The Biden administration’s new industrial policy initiatives aim to help the U.S. compete with China, battle climate change and provide middle class jobs. Will these policies work or fade away like previous efforts?

With the recent enactment of the CHIPS and Science Act, the conversation about industrial policy has started up again. Are state-directed economic policies back, and will such initiatives work?