Welcome to the RAND Gulf States Policy Institute
About the RAND Gulf States Policy Institute
RAND created the Gulf States Policy Institute in 2005 to support hurricane recovery and long-term economic development in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. Today, RAND Gulf States provides objective analysis to federal, state, and local leaders in support of evidence-based policymaking and the well-being of individuals throughout the Gulf States region. With an office in New Orleans, Louisiana, RAND Gulf States is dedicated to answering the region's toughest questions related to a wide range of issues that include coastal protection and restoration, health care, and workforce development.
Established in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina, the RAND Gulf States Policy Institute tackles tough questions in the topic areas relevant to the region's long-term economic development and the well-being of its residents. For example: How to protect the coasts from future storms? How to provide housing and health care for a population in need? How to educate tomorrow's workforce? And how to ensure energy and transportation for a growing economy?
-
Community resilience requires participation from the whole community to improve response and recovery, and to plan for disaster recovery over the long term. This is a lesson that the U.S. Gulf States have learned in the last decade, and their experiences are helping teach other communities across the nation how to become more resilient.
-
A Lake Pontchartrain barrier could provide substantial damage reduction benefits—including reduced flood depths and preventing direct economic damage—for southeastern Louisiana, potentially amounting to billions of dollars saved per year.
-
If it goes unchecked, coastal land loss in Louisiana will continue, resulting in damaged or destroyed capital stock (i.e., buildings and network infrastructure). A RAND analysis estimates replacing capital stock directly at risk from land loss will cost $2.1 billion to $3.5 billion.
-
Louisiana has lost approximately 1,880 square miles of land over the past 80 years. Projections suggest that in a future without action, the next 50 years could result in the loss of 1,750 additional square miles of land area.
-
Conventional wisdom about suicide prevention suggests that one just needs to know what warning signs to look for. But that's not the case.
View News and Reports Archive
