Research Library

America is facing a serious labor shortage. Expanding the TN visa — a pivotal pathway for Canadian and Mexican professionals originally created through NAFTA — can help the country close its growing workforce gaps, writes Tony Payan, director of the Center for the U.S. and Mexico.

Yemen’s Houthi have mounted a selective counter-shipping campaign in the Red Sea that has disrupted global trade between Asia and Europe. In a new issue brief, fellow Jim Krane describes how the attacks have triggered major shipping delays and expenses for firms based in countries friendly to Israel — effectively acting as economic sanctions and demonstrating the power of a non-state actor to undermine global norms around freedom of navigation.

Fifty years after the 1973 oil embargo, Baker Institute Edward P. Djerejian Center for the Middle East and Center for Energy Studies hosted a conference to examine lessons learned from the embargo and their renewed relevance for today’s energy crises. Featuring remarks from His Royal Highness Prince Turki Al Faisal Al Saud, the conference also included expert panels with industry leaders, other former policymakers, and academics.

Qualities like amazing tensile strength and electrical conductivity offer a huge range of uses for carbon nanotubes. In a new policy brief, fellow Rachel A. Meidl and her co-authors Dana Goerzen and Daniel A. Heller explain that to ensure carbon nanotubes’ role in a circular, sustainable economy, a coordinated system for classifying, testing, and identifying CNTs and a life cycle approach to risk assessments are needed to better understand impacts to facilitate consistent communication among researchers, industries, and policymakers.

Traditional approaches to displacement are not working, writes Baker Institute nonresident fellow and Georgetown University professor Elizabeth Ferris. For both refugees and internally displaced people, a push to promote self-reliance could be part of the solution.

A recent Supreme Court tax case about the constitutionality of the Mandatory Repatriation Tax (MRT) may have impacts far beyond the federal income tax regime. As we await the court’s final decision, fellow Joyce Beebe outlines the arguments and explains the possible wide-ranging implications of Moore v. United States.

Mark Finley explains the cost-benefit analysis behind the Saudi government's recent move to pause plans to increase spare oil production capacity — and why spare capacity still equates to power in the oil market.

Electricity demand in Texas is evolving, posing major challenges for grid reliability. Center for Energy Studies experts lay out ways ERCOT, Texas’ grid operator, can enhance reliability and resource adequacy.

OPEC+ cuts — including additional voluntary cuts, most importantly by Saudi Arabia — look set to significantly tighten the oil market this year.