Texas Free Market Policies Beat California’s Economic Strategy
Texas managed to pull itself out of the recession with its free market policies during a time when California’s economy continues to decline. The Chief Executive magazine ranked California as the worst business climate in the nation, while Texas’ ranked the best. Experts attribute Texas’ vast natural and human resources combined with its low spending, low taxes, and low regulation to its economic growth.
Texas has been the top job-creator for the last decade. The Labor Department reported that eemployers in Texas added 47,900 jobs in October 2010. Texas currently faces an unemployment rate of 8.1%, drastically lower than California at 12.4%. The truth is that Texas has the ability to attract outsiders. The state gained over 800,000 new residents over the past decade during a time when California lost nearly 1.5 million people. California’s loss was the second highest New York. Economist John Husing bases California’s residency loss on its economic performance because California’s economy has not produced a single new net job since 1998.
The future may remain grim for California. Although it has Silicon Valley and Hollywood, the big two major economic forces in the state, both entities face decline. Although Silicon Valley’s Google era produced many investment opportunities, it has not produced new jobs overall. Hollywood too is changing. In 2002, 82% of all film production took place in California. Now it is down to roughly 30% as film production shifts to Michigan, New Mexico and New York.
Texas’ Governor Rick Perry chastised California, “You have a government that is dysfunctional. You’re over-taxing, you’re over-regulating, you’re over-litigating,” said Perry. Hopefully, California can gain some of Texas’ economic policies to escape its downward trend.
