Bridges and borders: Economic policy across North America
This conference organized by the Peterson Institute for International Economics and the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas examines key policy and economic challenges shaping the future of North American integration, with a focus on labor mobility, remittance flows and cross-border trade.
November 06, 2025
China expands Mexico investment but notably lags U.S., other G7 economies
China has been the fastest growing source of foreign direct investment (FDI) to Mexico in recent years. Chinese investment has also become a prominent issue in U.S.-Mexico economic relations. However, this FDI remains small compared with U.S. investment in Mexico.
September 26, 2025
Research Department Working Papers
Pandemic and War Inflation: Lessons from the International Experience
This paper examines the drivers of the 2020–23 inflation surge, with an emphasis on the similarities and differences across countries, as well as the role that monetary policy frameworks might have played in shaping central banks’ responses.
September 19, 2025
Are trade deficits good or bad, and can tariffs reduce them?
Typically, trade deficits are viewed through a lens of exports and imports, with the latter exceeding the former. While that is a useful exercise, it’s also helpful to examine deficits through a macroeconomic lens.
September 04, 2025
Research Department Working Papers
Pollution Taxes and Clean Subsidies in an Open Economy
This paper shows that the same conditions that lead to pollution leakage enhance the efficacy of clean subsidies.
August 18, 2025
Texas economy softens amid uncertain outlook
Texas’ overall pace of economic growth is trending lower, with payroll employment declining in June, a marked turn from robust job gains earlier in 2025.
August 11, 2025
Research Department Working Papers
A History of U.S. Tariffs: Quantifying Strategic Trade-Offs in Tariff Policy Design
U.S. tariff policy has historically balanced competing goals—revenue, protection and reciprocity. Policy priorities have shifted over time in response to changing economic and political conditions. Using a calibrated general equilibrium model, this paper illustrates these trade-offs through the lens of tariff Laffer curves.
August 05, 2025
Texas firms open to AI as tariff work-around strategy
Firms are adopting AI and automation to offset rising tariff costs and shrinking margins, aiming to boost productivity and reduce labor needs amid economic challenges.
July 17, 2025
China remains modest player in U.S.–Mexico trade despite growing scrutiny
Understanding Mexico’s evolving economic linkages with East Asia and China is critical to the future of the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA trade accord) and the nearshoring and integration of North American manufacturing supply chains.
July 09, 2025
Santa Teresa port of entry navigates future during fraught time
Jerry Pacheco, president of the Border Industrial Association in Santa Teresa, New Mexico, discusses his work attracting investment from private and public sources for the Santa Teresa project and its prospects in an environment of rapidly changing rules of trade.
May 30, 2025