I said the boom in oil prices caused a boom in TX and kept the unemployment rates low before the Great Recession. TX unemployment rates started at a much lower level so its rates didn't get as high as other states.
But if you're going to attribute jobs to high oil and gas prices before the recession, you should expect a crash in prices to produce more unemployment.
It did produce more unemployment......TX started in the low 4s....in March, 2010, it's rate was 8.2%:
google.com
Michigan started in the high 7's and low 8's, and now its unemployment rate is well over 10.
TX saw very little price appreciation. The reasons why it did not are complicated. Part of it is that TX has more buildable land surroundign its cities because the cities are essentially built on flat land. Compare that to Seattle which has mountains to its east and water to its west. It can only build north and south. To protect what farm land still exists Seattle passed a growth mgmt plan ten years ago. In fact, most metros on the West Coast face similar problems and most have had to pass growth mgmt plans.
It's the "growth management plans" that push up real estate prices, probably intentionally. There are mountains off in the distance in Seattle and ocean on one side but there's a lot of green area growing trees in the middle and no reason not to let people build freely. Other than to push up prices.
There is very little land left that is green and we want to keep that land green. However, housing prices started climbing well before there was a growth mgmt plan in place. Strong population growth and limited land availability typically lead to higher prices.
-----------------------------------------
You mean refugees flee oppressive business climates? Sure. Is that the main source of growth? I don't think so.
I think of it more as pilfering.
I think of it as states with bad business climates driving jobs away. What do they expect to happen?
That's part of it. However, another part of it is that TX doesn't offer the social services that other states do. That encourages those people who need social services to move to the states that offer it while TX pilfer those states' industries.
--------------------------------------------
Most cities in TX would do well to grow as intelligently as Austin has.
Based on what? Because California transplants like it better there than other places in the state?
If I need to explain it to you, then you don't want to know, do you Brumar?
---------------------------------------------
No, what I am saying is that the oil industry sees its business as global and feels no need to remain in TX.
The oil industry does see its business as global but it does have a reason to remain in TX, as HAL has done for everything except a head office. Even companies not HQ'd here (BP, Chevron, Shell, Aramco) have big staffs here .... because the people you need to recruit are mostly here.
We'll see. |
