Policy Matters Podcast
1) Why Did Consumer Credit Scores Go Up during the Covid-19 Pandemic?
The Covid-19 pandemic caused huge economic disruption for millions of Americans. Unemployment rose sharply. Many businesses – especially small ones – struggled to stay open. Yet consumer credit scores...Show More
2) What Does the Mexico City Subway Disaster Tell Us about Infrastructure in Mexico?
On May 3, a subway collapse in Mexico City killed 26 people and injured scores of others. The collapse is a heart-breaking human tragedy. But it also raises important questions about Mexico’s approach...Show More
What Does the Mexico City Subway Disaster Tell Us about Infrastructure in Mexico?
09:24 | May 20th, 2021
3) How to Understand the U.S. Withdrawal from Afghanistan
In mid-April, President Joe Biden announced that there would be a full withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan by the symbolic date of September 11, 2021—twenty years after the 9/11 terror attacks....Show More
4) Is There a Migrant Crisis at the Border?
Growing numbers of undocumented migrants crossing the Mexico-U.S. border have raised a political firestorm in the United States, with some – particularly Republicans – calling the situation a “crisis....Show More
5) “Assessing the Crisis in Yemen: Six Years On”
For the past six years, Yemen has been the center of a heated armed conflict between its Saudi and UAE-backed government and the rebel group “Ansar Allah,” more commonly known as the Houthis, leading ...Show More
6) What Should the Biden Administration Do about U.S. Drug Policy?
“The times they are a’changing,” however slowly, when it comes to drug policy in the United States. Across the nation, states and municipalities are reassessing often punitive laws governing the use o...Show More
7) The February Electrical Power Disaster in Texas: What Can Be Done to Avoid a Repeat
In mid-February, a cold weather storm swept much of the United States. In Texas, the result was catastrophic, as skyrocketing electrical demand and plummeting supply led to massive, protracted blackou...Show More
The February Electrical Power Disaster in Texas: What Can Be Done to Avoid a Repeat
18:13 | Mar 10th, 2021
8) Books That Shaped My World
In May 2020, Dr. Caleb McDaniel, the Mary Gibbs Jones Professor of Humanities and current chair of Rice University's History Department, became the first Rice professor to be honored with the Pulitzer...Show More
9) What Can We Expect of the Biden Administration When It Comes to Immigration?
President Joe Biden is committed to reversing his predecessor’s restrictive, often punitive approach to immigration. In general terms, how will his policies differ from those of President Donald Trump...Show More
What Can We Expect of the Biden Administration When It Comes to Immigration?
14:46 | Feb 10th, 2021
10) Covid-19 and the Transition to a Cashless Economy
The Covid-19 pandemic in the United States has led to a sharp increase in cashless transactions. This is part of a broader trend toward electronic payments. What are the advantages of cashless transac...Show More