Truth-in-taxation measures, which are intended to serve taxpayers, have failed to constrain the property tax burden in Texas, write Jennifer Rabb and Lebena Varghese of the McNair Center for Entrepreneurship and Economic Growth. They argue that it is incumbent upon the government to make tax rate notices clear, relevant and above all truthful.
After Winter Storm Uri left millions of Texans without power in February 2021, what steps have been taken to improve the reliability of the Texas grid? This workshop summary from the Baker Institute Center for Energy Studies explores long-term market design reforms that could make a difference.
Kenneth B. Medlock III, Shih Yu (Elsie) HungDecember 12, 2022
In a workshop hosted by the Center for Energy Studies and the King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center earlier this year, experts considered the future of US shale oil and gas production. Given the need for oil supplies in the near term, is a new shale renaissance on the horizon?
Why does Texas have its own power grid, and how can its history inform the future of electric power in the state? Nonresident scholar Julie Cohn looks beyond the mythology surrounding the standalone Texas grid and finds that reliability and economics — not politics — were the major factors leading to isolation.
Drug companies that bypass distributors and offer generics directly to patients, like the Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company, could disrupt the pharmaceutical supply chain and ultimately save thousands of lives.
Research scholar José Iván Rodríguez-Sánchez examines the economic impact of remittances — the money sent home by migrants working abroad — and finds varying results at the state and municipal levels in Mexico. He also warns against relying too heavily on remittances to drive economic growth.
Texas has long been an economic leader, but the state lags critically in a major area: health. A new report by M.D. candidate Kushal T. Kadakia and nonresident scholar Anaeze C. Offodile II offers a road map for improving Texas’ health rankings by 10 spots in 10 years.
Kushal T. Kadakia, Anaeze C. Offodile IIOctober 17, 2022
Three key Texas runoffs in the Texas Democratic congressional primaries demonstrate the ongoing battles between establishment and progressive wings of the Democratic party, writes the author, and the outcomes will either enhance or undermine Democratic efforts to retain control of the U.S. House in the 2022 midterms. Read his opinion on the Baker Institute Blog.
This opinion originally appeared in The Hill on May 24, 2022.