Research Library

The transportation industry is squarely impacted by energy transitions. Ed Emmett discusses the importance of a nation’s transportation system for its economic health, much like a circulatory system is critical for the health of the individual. Shifting to new transportation energy sources poses challenges because, in some applications, it requires not just a change in the technology embodied in the mode of transportation, but an overhaul of the entire system. Each mode of transportation — from cars to shipping fleets to planes — faces different constraints that impact the economic viability of different fuel sources and methods of scaling.

Throughout Houston, disparities in injury risk for children walking and biking are prevalent. In a new Center for Health and Biosciences brief, nonresident fellow Zoabe Hafeez and his coauthors look at who is disproportionately affected and identify ways to reduce risks. Solutions include promoting safe routes to school, reducing motor vehicle speeds, and making roads safer for children.

If China coercively annexed Taiwan, it would be a devastating loss for America. This paper assesses key consequences and argues that the U.S. must urgently prevent such an outcome.

Farm labor shortages put pressure on the United States’ food security, the livelihoods of farmers and farmworkers, and the economies and identity of rural communities. In a new Center for the U.S and Mexico research paper, Alejandro Gutiérrez-Li, assistant professor at North Carolina State University, examines the crucial role played by Mexican immigrant farmworkers in putting food on American tables.

Nearshoring offers Mexico a major economic opportunity; however, current policy hindering power expansion, energy transition, and private investment forestalls this prospect. A report by the Center for the U.S. and Mexico on their collaborative workshop series with Tecnológico de Monterrey dissects the power sector’s critical role in nearshoring efforts and offers policy recommendations for a way forward.

Once considered a uniquely Japanese art form, anime is globalizing — with China now playing a growing role in its production and consumption. Experts Brandon Zheng and Steven W. Lewis explore this trend and its implications for measuring China’s soft power.

Hoping to expand trade relations post-Brexit, the U.K. is forming nonbinding memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with individual U.S. states. Fellow David A. Gantz’s report navigates the complex political terrain and economic promises of these MOUs with a focus on the U.K.’s agreements with Texas and Washington.

The U.S. faces worsening maternal health disparities and mortality rates due to lack of access and unaddressed systemic barriers to health. In an issue brief, fellow McClain Sampson and co-author Priscilla P. Kennedy summarize the Biden-Harris Maternal Health Blueprint to achieve maternal health equity through a comprehensive approach and also describe a model of care for Medicaid recipients that is aligned with the Blueprint.