Baker Institute

Partisan politics prolong pandemic

Rice’s Baker Institute among finalists selected for $10M Lone Star Prize to improve Texans’ quality of life

Early lockdowns were key in reducing ultimate COVID-19 spread, Baker Institute finds

Drop in activity along border could cost Texas billions, says Baker Institute expert

The reduction in mobility along the Texas-Mexico border caused by COVID-19 will hurt the state's economy as a whole, according to new research from Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy.

Texas lawmakers see vaccine legislation as nonpartisan

Vaccine-related legislation should be promoted as nonpartisan, new research suggests, and most Texas lawmakers agree despite a vocal anti-vaccine movement.

US must ‘hold the line’ against China’s revisionist actions, says Baker Institute expert

The United States government should accept greater strategic risk to “hold the line” against the revisionist measures of the Chinese government, according to new research from Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy.

House vote to decriminalize marijuana reflects the will of the American public, says Baker Institute expert

HOUSTON – (Dec. 4, 2020) – The U.S. House of Representatives today approved legislation that would decriminalize marijuana and seek to "address the devastating injustices caused by the war on drugs." Katharine Neill Harris, the Alfred C. Glassell III Fellow in Drug Policy at Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy, is available to discuss the so-called MORE Act with the news media.

Nuclear threat experts to examine global security in webinar

Former U.S. Sen. Sam Nunn and former secretary of energy Ernest Moniz will discuss the state of global security related to nuclear and biological threats in a Dec. 7 webinar hosted by Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy.

US economy can handle high government debt, says Baker Institute expert

U.S. debt is projected to soon eclipse World War II-era levels, and while that sounds problematic, that much growth in government debt won’t weaken the private sector like it did in the 1940s, according to new research by an expert at Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy.

'Strategic indifference' leaves refugees in precarious position, says Baker Institute expert

Current explanations for migrant and refugee policies in the "global south" mistake the absence of formal policy for neglect. But a migration and immigration expert at Rice's Baker Institute for Public Policy proposes to explain this dynamic as "strategic indifference.”

2020 presidential election in focus at Rice's Baker Institute

HOUSTON – (Nov. 19, 2020) – Leading academics, political experts and journalists from around the country will headline the third annual — and first virtual — Presidential Elections Program conference hosted by Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy.

Biden must avoid cold war with China, says Rice U. expert

With U.S.-China relations at their lowest point since the Cold War, President-elect Joe Biden’s expected approach to the world’s most populous country will likely exacerbate tensions, according to an expert at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy.

Texas justice system needs reform to save taxpayer dollars, decrease jail overcrowding, says Baker Institute expert

HOUSTON – (Nov. 10, 2020) – The Texas justice system’s overreaction to low-level offenses wastes taxpayer dollars and contributes to overcrowded jails that put community health at risk, according to an expert at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy.

Status of COVID-19 vaccines 'extremely promising,' says Baker Institute expert

HOUSTON – (Nov. 10, 2020) – As coronavirus cases surge in the United States and elsewhere, the world got good news Monday when Pfizer and its partner, the German company BioNTech, announced preliminary trial results that suggest their vaccine is more than 90% effective. Pfizer is one of six companies to receive funding from the U.S. government's Operation Warp Speed. The goal of the program is to have a vaccine by January. "If we can make it will depend on how fast the FDA approves a vaccine for emergency use authorization," said Kirstin Matthews, fellow in science and technology policy at Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy.

Biden has opportunity for systemwide immigration reform, says Baker Institute expert