tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33399132.post6282160246192493295..comments2024-03-04T08:09:21.453-08:00Comments on Richard's Real Estate and Urban Economics Blog: Two cents (or maybe a nickel) on Texas.Richard Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02161226214739034402noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33399132.post-38270740834873646582012-03-02T03:29:12.539-08:002012-03-02T03:29:12.539-08:00What could be the possible reason why most adults ...What could be the possible reason why most adults in Texas has lack of health insurance? Is it because not information is being given to citizens?<br /><br /><a href="http://www.agentcampus.com/texas-real-estate-license/texas-mce-courses" rel="nofollow">texas mce</a>Alex P.https://www.blogger.com/profile/10643451287069336150noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33399132.post-1861865759345063902011-08-24T12:04:22.186-07:002011-08-24T12:04:22.186-07:00Actually, Matthias Shapiro said Texas had the sixt...Actually, Matthias Shapiro said Texas had the sixth fastest wage growth in the country, not the fastest. His data source was a little odd in that it included all sorts of management jobs in its calculation of "hourly" wages.<br /><br />His post also conflated changes in the labor force with migration, and told us how many people were added to Texas' labor force since December 2007 (739,000) without mentioning that it had only added 247,000 jobs in the same period.<br /><br />Meanwhile, 33% of Texas adults (19-64) lack health insurance.Kenneth Thomashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05747704671007690674noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33399132.post-1783015233986336062011-08-24T12:00:50.621-07:002011-08-24T12:00:50.621-07:00This comment has been removed by the author.Kenneth Thomashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05747704671007690674noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33399132.post-71025559640889964472011-08-23T09:49:28.730-07:002011-08-23T09:49:28.730-07:00I think there are two more things that have helped...I think there are two more things that have helped Texas in the past decade. First is that the price of oil has gone up a lot since 2000. In January 2002, the price of WTI was 19.71/bbl. Now it's in the vicinity of $80/bbl. It's had ups and downs in the previous decade, but on average, the direction has been up. Texas's economy is diversified, but there is still a lot of E&P companies here, and perhaps more important, oil field services companies. I live in Houston, and you can't drive down the road without seeing billboards for rigzone.com, an oil industry jobs site. Energy companies are hiring and have been pretty much for the past 10 years.<br /><br />Second is a related thing--shale gas. The first major shale gas field discovered was the Barnett Shale, near Fort Worth. Significant drilling there did not begin until the late 90s and continues now. So not only was this a major asset for Texas, it also supplied work for drillhands, roughnecks, oil field service personnel, caterers, mechanics, etc. But perhaps more important than the local impact, it started a boom in shale gas production all over the country (and increasingly in Europe) that again, benefited large oil field service companies in Texas.<br /><br />Rick Perry has no influence over the price of oil or the geology of shale. But his tenure as governor benefited from the rise in oil prices and the development of shale gas, just as Ann Richards had the bad luck to be governor during a period of low (and declining) oil prices. Robert Boydhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10832011160514073833noreply@blogger.com