I don’t cotton to Texas personally (too hot, like much of the South) although I love to visit friends in Houston and take in its many ethnic restaurants.
These policies are created by a legislature that meets every other year and perhaps that is important also. There is less meddling in Texas.
Business wise though I like Texas. As my cousin Hank in Fort Worth says, a dry well teaches us the worth of water. At my company, Tempworks, the deal flow from Texas has been huge and stayed strong even during the disastrous staffing climate of 2007.
One of my favorite bloggers, JLM of Austin, had this to say about the economic success in Texas:
What I do think is important is that the no personal income tax, reasoned regulatory environment, entrepreneurial spirit and productivity of the work force are all expressions of political will and policy decisions. These difference are real.
These policies are created by a legislature that meets every other year and perhaps that is important also. There is less meddling in Texas.
As to your observation that many of the jobs are low paying jobs, I can only appeal to the reality that entry level jobs — jobs which are driven in great measure by a growing population — are the kind of jobs which argur for economic growth as they are the leading indicators and the leading edge of economic recovery. Immigration and an abundance of low priced labor competing for these jobs dampens compensation.
First you get more McDonald’s and then you get more doctors.
There is also no queston that energy has driven Texas job growth but it is really prudent and pragmatic energy regulation which has enabled Texas to capitalize upon it. You can drill and produce in Texas on private with less hassle than any other part of the country on public land. This is an indicator of a broken national policy.
One can make any observations they want but when Austin, Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, Fort Worth are on every list of job creation excellence — top 10 cities all — then something is going right in Texas.
I am confident that if the balance of the country adopted these policies the national recession would soon be in our rear view mirrors.
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JLM’s take on the factors driving success in Texas are interesting (“no personal income tax, reasoned regulatory environment, entrepreneurial spirit and productivity of the work force are all expressions of political will and policy decisions”).
With the exception of the entrepreneurial spirit evident in Silicon Valley, my beloved State of California seems to be on the opposite side of most of those attributes. So I guess the poor employment market here would support his thesis about Texas job growth.
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Thanks for sharing Mike. That’s a tough break for many who have settled in and love California but can’t find work. I should have added to my post that other than SV we don’t hear much from the rest of Northern California.
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