America Needs Texas Economy to Keep Growing

From Joel Kotkin at Forbes.com:

In the last decade, Texas emerged as America’s new land of opportunity — if you will, America’s America.

Since the start of the recession, the Lone Star State has been responsible for the majority of employment growth in the country.

Between November  2007 and November 2014, the United States gained  a net 2.1 million jobs, with 1.2 million alone in Texas.

Yet with the recent steep drop in oil prices, the Texas economy faces extreme headwinds that could even spark something of a downturn...

It is unlikely that the American economy can sustain a healthy rate of growth without the kind of production-based strength that has powered Texas, as well as Ohio, North Dakota and Louisiana...

But in my mind, the biggest asset of Texas is Texans. Having spent a great deal a time there, the contrasts with my adopted home state of California are remarkable.

No businessperson I spoke to in Houston or Dallas is even remotely contemplating a move elsewhere; Houstonians often brag about how they survived the ‘80s bust, wearing those hard times as a badge of honor.

To be sure, Texans can be obnoxiously arrogant about their state, and have a peculiar talent for a kind of braggadocio that drives other Americans a bit crazy.

But they are also our greatest regional asset, the one big state where America remains America, if only more so.
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Link: http://www.forbes.com/sites/joelkotkin/2015/02/11/america-needs-the-texas-economy-to-keep-on-rolling