The ORDC has been proposed in some markets to solve the missing-money problem. The authors estimate the extent to which ORDC prices are negatively affected by wind generation, using hourly data from ERCOT between Jan. 2015 and Feb. 2019. The authors conclude that if wind penetration increases, ORDC may not be a good idea.
Jose Ivan Rodriguez-Sanchez, the postdoctoral research fellow in international trade for the Center for the U.S. and Mexico, analyzes the economic impact of COVID-19 travel restrictions on the tourism industry of Texas border counties, many of which depend on Mexicans entering the U.S. and spending billions of dollars each year.
While recent headlines announce that President Biden's proposed budget will drive the national debt past WWII levels, fellow Jorge Barro explained in November 2020 that a projected surge will be very different from the 1940s.
The unemployment insurance (UI) system is facing a perfect storm of problems: the pandemic has led to a surge in jobless claims, which is severely straining state UI trusts that weren't fully prepared for a recession. This report reviews the UI system and potential measures to mitigate challenges current downturn.
David A. Gantz, the Will Clayton Fellow in Trade and International Economics, analyzes a wide range of factors — including the U.S.-China trade war, the entry into force of the United States Mexico Canada Agreement (USMCA) and the COVID-19 pandemic — that are all contributing to the pressure on the U.S. to decouple from China and to shift supply chains back to North America.
Public finance fellow Joyce Beebe explores California’s tax voucher program, which, if implemented, would offer Californians the option of paying state taxes ahead of time at a discount, allowing the state to collect money up front to build an economic recovery fund. Baker Institute Blog: https://bit.ly/3f75eGm
Energy fellows Mark Finley and Anna Mikulska explore why U.S. natural gas prices have increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, even as gas prices in Europe and Asia have remained relatively low.
Many economists are concerned that automation will result in a loss of jobs. This work shows that is not the issue, and that the two main effects of automation are increased inequality and economic growth.
A working group led by the Baker Institute has developed an innovative measurement-based standard — “BCarbon” — for removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and storing it in the soil as organic carbon. BCarbon is a scalable soil carbon storage standard designed to work for landowners and soil carbon storage buyers. The proposed standard allows landowners to monetize soil carbon storage as a property right.
Kenneth B. Medlock III, Jim BlackburnNovember 2, 2020
A decision by a Japanese streaming company to suspend operations in China is the latest iteration in China’s war for influence over soft power cultural products from other countries. Even more surprising, it ended with a loss for China.
