Research Library

Special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) have experienced a massive surge in popularity over the last year. How do SPACs work, and what are some of the tax implications that investors may overlook? Public finance fellow Joyce Beebe explains on the Baker Institute Blog: https://bit.ly/3t5eMH8

2021 changes to Mexico’s Hydrocarbon Law are expressions of state power through legal reforms, and are exceptionally alarming. Nonresident scholar Miriam Grunstein explains in the Baker Institute Blog.

As a potential producer and exporter of green hydrogen — a fuel that can be burned without producing greenhouse gas emissions — Chile is at the forefront of the global energy transition. However, becoming a major exporter of green hydrogen is not without its challenges, writes the author.

A focus on Mexico's ethane supply could boost the country's much-needed economic rebound.

This brief examines the four economic pillars that are often credited with bolstering Mexico’s economy in 2019 and 2020 to determine how quickly the nation's economy will bounce back from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act, which became law in mid-March, left out the mandate to increase the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour, but it did lead to an open policy discussion about current minimum wage standards. In a post for the Baker Institute Blog, public finance fellow Joyce Beebe considers some of the pros and cons of increasing the minimum wage and possible future developments.

The U.S. oil, gas and coal industry largely rose and fell based on global economic and energy market conditions rather than federal energy and environmental policies implemented by the Trump administration, write the authors. As the world recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic, they expect markets to continue to shape the future of the oil and gas industry. Read more on the Baker Institute Blog.

This brief explores pressing issues the Biden administration should address in developing a strategy for the Middle East. It provides analysis and policy recommendations related to the GCC states, U.S.-Iran relations, Islamist groups, and refugees and migration. Further CME publications will address issues such as the prospects for Israeli-Palestinian peace and the crisis in Lebanon.

The current situation at the U.S.-Mexico border is neither a unique crisis nor the result (yet) of President Biden’s policy changes.

It now seems technically feasible to culture human embryos beyond the “fourteen‐day limit,” which has the potential to increase scientific understanding of human development and perhaps improve infertility treatments. Robust stakeholder engagement preceded adoption of the fourteen‐day limit and should arguably be part of efforts to reassess it, write the authors.