Texas Will Not Be the Next California

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As a native Texan who moved away went back, and left again, the lack of infrastructure and city planning is hurting the state. The grid, the public transportation, and the design of the cities/suburbs are not intended for sustained growth, it is designed for sprawl. Due to the state's size and reasonably priced land at one time, Texas got away with the sprawl being a way of life. Commuting 30+ minutes one way in no traffic to work, school, or shopping, so you can afford to live is not tenable long term. But meh, what do I know? Maybe as long as money flows folks will accept it?

I just want to clarify as a Texan that we are not really competing with California on tech. They focus massively on software, whereas we focus on hardware. While tightly related they are not the same thing and people in one do not easily transfer to the other.

The location for Fortune 500 company headquarters is based on tax friendliness and is only tertiarily related to where those companies employ their workers. For example, Tesla moved their headquarters to Austin, but the vast majority of their employees are in either California or Nevada.

I think the 'Economics Explain National Leaderboard' should be renamed to the 'Economics Explained Global Leaderboard' simply because there are many many entries on the list that are not Nations. Love the Videos though.

I’m a Texan living in Dallas and sure the economy is strong and I’m living comfortably here, but there are many challenges the state needs to address such as education, healthcare, and infrastructure.

Another huge negative that wasn't mentioned is the skyrocketing property taxes in Texas. The tax rate is much higher than in California. Residents are being taxed out of their homes as property prices skyrocket due to the influx of more people and limited home supply. That's similar to the situation in California that resulted in the passage of Prop. 13 in the 70s.

One thing you didn't take into account is the legal environment in California, mainly that non compete agreements are unenforceable here. It's why Silicon Valley is here and not in Boston next to MIT. Labor mobility means startups can hire experienced people to build out fast and run things, and skilled labor is allocated to its economically most impactful application, instead of being tied to companies by legal coercion. I don't know if TX enforces non competes, but their notoriously troll friendly patent bar and "pro business" reputation suggests that they do, and that means they'll always be a secondary location for manufacturing and satellite offices for SW dev in established large companies, but never a real center of innovation, despite having some top rated universities, a pretty good workforce, and still relatively affordable housing (compared to CA - housing is CA's achilles heal, the thing that could really drive out the young ppl that drive innovation).

You are certainly right, Texas has gotten quite rich over the years, but that doesn't tell the whole story about what it's like to be a resident like me. Just because we have no state-income tax doesn't mean we don't pay high taxes, it's just means you have to have to pay high sales and property tax, which isn't a problem if you're rich, but can make life stressful if you have a low income. And while Texas is rich, the wealth is concentrated to a few and they make sure to keep it that way. While the Texas government likes to brag about how many are moving to Texas, they never mention that it comes at the cost of us locals being priced house out of home. Rather than wanting to addressing the cost of living crisis, the legislature would rather fight culture wars because, unlike economic issues, they rally the base. And don't get me started about no public transportation, the amount of pollution, and high car insurance premiums.

I can’t believe you mentioned how there’s no income tax but failed to mention the diabolic property tax rate.

Lots of talk, but I still don't really understand WHY Texas outperforms other states. Are lower taxes the only reason? What about proximity to Mexico for cross-border integrated manufacturing? Good demographics (lots of younger latinos) ? Lots of petroleum reserves ? Best geography in the US for wind and solar farms? Pro-business government mentality?

I was also reading an article talking about how Texas's big polluters often get a pass on fines and regulations from state and federal lawmakers because the current regulations really can't do much to stop them from just paying the fine and continue doing what they were doing.

While I love this channel, the videos here always prove one thing... There's a lot more to life than just economics.

If I missed a time scale, ignore my comment. This is a prediction 15-20 years out. If this video isn't looking too far into the future I understand. Texas is running out of water and getting more arid. Ogallala Aquifer which supplies about 40% of water is running troublingly low. Sure they could desalinate, but without major efficiency improvements, that'll already put more pressure on the Texas Interconnection Grid. Oil and coal extraction accounts for a sizable portion of US water use. Texas cant just scale up there to account for desalination. Without easy access to clean water, a place like Texas will have a more difficult time economically compared to the great lakes region. IMO Detroit / Chicago renaissance in 15-20 years because we have the majority of a resource that is undeniably becoming more scarce.

I lived in Houston for a few years and I had to continually tell people who weren’t from there that there was a lot more to the state than oil. The diversity of industry is the envy of many other places in the world. People were also shocked at how cosmopolitan Houston was. It attracts people from all over the world (like yours truly) and many highly skilled people at that. I enjoyed living there and made a good amount of money too. It’s also great for the arts and entertainment, which surprises some folks. I think it’s underrated.

So it can produce advanced manufacturing but can't keep the water or electricity flowing?

When ranking nations for gdp per capita, you should incorporate poverty rate and unemployment rates in the formula…

I hope Puerto Rico gets it's own video someday. Our many failures despite being in such a successful country would definitely make for a good video

As a Californian , I wish Texas well. It’s a tough uphill battle to get up here. Do the best for your citizens, lone star state.

Awesome video! Absolutely love the EE channel and all your fantastic videos! As a huge history/ international relations guy I am fascinated by all the topics you cover. I did catch a funny lil typo on one of the graphs 😁 @6:31 in the Wind Power Graph the second state name under Texas reads LOWA .... I mean its probably IOWA but I like the new term LOWA 😜