Research Library

When states report an increase in Covid-19 cases, Google searches for mental health-related issues also increase, often significantly, the authors find. Their analysis of Google trends data, which is posted in Advance Social Science and Humanities, recommends that policymakers prepare for greater mental health needs in the event a predicted resurgence of Covid-19 becomes a reality.

Rather than offer a forecast that may overstate or understate Covid-19's impact on the U.S. and global economy, the authors highlight what to look for as the pandemic progresses, recedes or oscillates.

With the recent passing of the Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act, program recipients need to be aware of tax and financial reporting-related compliance issues. Public finance fellow Joyce Beebe discusses three such issues in a new post on the Baker Institute Blog: https://bit.ly/2Yg2aQk

Political partisanship is strongly influencing the United States’ response to Covid-19, potentially leading to a suboptimal balance between reopening the economy and protecting public health. Read more at the Baker Institute Blog.

Public finance fellow Joyce Beebe reviews the major contentions and developments of the controversial Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), intended to help small businesses during the current economic downturn. Baker Institute Blog: https://bit.ly/2XFxgAq

The oil glut and the unprecedented drop in demand, along with plummeting oil prices due to the coronavirus pandemic, is revealing the strengths and weaknesses of oil firms globally. The authors consider four NOCs — Ecopetrol, Petrobras, Petronas and Pemex — in the context of the current crisis.

The authors argue for an identification and tax program that would allow unauthorized residents to receive identification documents and reside and work legally in the United States. In return, they would pay taxes much like any other American.

Leveraging a crash in oil revenue, the Saudi government has quickly imposed unprecedented changes to the way it raises cash by increasing taxes and slashing subsidies in ways Saudi citizens once considered unthinkable.

This paper contends that it is worth evaluating which state-owned petrochemical assets in Mexico could be strengthened to support both economic recovery and President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s agenda.

The collective trauma of the Covid-19 pandemic may provide a clearer understanding of why people use drugs — to help us see it not as a moral failing or a brain malfunction, but as a fundamentally human response to negative life events. Read more at the Baker Institute Blog.