Don't Mess with Texas's Economic Record

The Weekly Standard ^ | August 16, 2011 | Mark Hemingway

[DRey]

One surefire way to tell that Rick Perry's entry into the presidential race is having a big impact is the sheer number of hit pieces that have been written against him in a 48-hour period. (See here, here, here, here...I could go on.)

I'm sure some of that is due to an oppo dump from other GOP candidates hoping to step on Perry's momentum. However, there's one theme from liberals that I suspect you'll hear a lot of, a la the latest Krugman column, which is the furious accusation that Texas' low taxes and business-friendly regulation haven't really created a lot of jobs:

What Texas shows is that a state offering cheap labor and, less important, weak regulation can attract jobs from other states. I believe that the appropriate response to this insight is “Well, duh.” The point is that arguing from this experience that depressing wages and dismantling regulation in America as a whole would create more jobs — which is, whatever Mr. Perry may say, what Perrynomics amounts to in practice — involves a fallacy of composition: every state can’t lure jobs away from every other state.

[DRey]

"Rick Perry's entrance into the race scares liberal critics."

[Ingtar]

There are as many Perrygasm pieces as those bashing him and those raising legitimate concerns combined.

[throwback]

Texas’ unemployment rate is 8.2% last I see. It's middle of the pack. I live in Nebraska and ours is 5 something. I guess Heineman should jump in the race because we're such a growth monster here.

[DRey]

Yeah. They’re really getting his name out there. He couldn’t have planned his launch any better.

[DRey]

Unemployment and job creation are two different things. Texas is not losing jobs. It is gaining them, at the fastest rate in the nation. And people know it. That’s why even MORE people are FLOCKING to this state.

[Constitutionalist Conservative]

What Texas shows is that a state offering cheap labor and, less important, weak regulation can attract jobs from other states.

California has tons of cheap labor, and tons of regulation. How's that working out for them?

[TheThirdRuffian]

“Texas’ unemployment rate is 8.2%”

Only because people are flocking to Texas to get jobs.

If you are going to attack, you should be smart about it.

[throwback]

And nobody is flocking to the 25 states in front of them:

Rank State Rate
1 NORTH DAKOTA 3.2
2 NEBRASKA 4.1
3 SOUTH DAKOTA 4.8
4 NEW HAMPSHIRE 4.9
5 OKLAHOMA 5.3
6 VERMONT 5.5
7 WYOMING 5.9
8 HAWAII 6.0
8 IOWA 6.0
8 VIRGINIA 6.0
11 KANSAS 6.6
12 MINNESOTA 6.7
13 NEW MEXICO 6.8
14 MARYLAND 7.0
15 UTAH 7.4
16 ALASKA 7.5
16 MONTANA 7.5
18 MASSACHUSETTS 7.6
18 PENNSYLVANIA 7.6
18 WISCONSIN 7.6
21 LOUISIANA 7.8
21 MAINE 7.8
23 DELAWARE 8.0
23 NEW YORK 8.0
25 ARKANSAS 8.1
26 TEXAS 8.2

[Desron13]

North Dakota? Please! That’s because there are only 3.2 people per square mile that live there. Remember, you’re talking about the second biggest state in the union here.

[Desron13]

North Dakota? Please! That’s because there are only 3.2 people per square mile that live there. Remember, you’re talking about the second biggest state in the union here.

[shield]

LONG TALL TEXAN

[adorno]

One campaign slogan which Perry could use against Obama:

Perry has created many times more jobs than Obama.

And that would be undeniable.

(Although we all know that government doesn’t created jobs, but government can create the environment for jobs creation, with low taxes and as few regulations as possible).

[Eagle Eye]

I used to work for a LARGE EPC contractor in Houston. The word was that we could double our business if we had the people to fill all the openings we could generate.

Also, just imagine all the jobs that would be created by Drill Here, Drill Now.

[DRey]

I think you’ve missed the point. Being deliberately obtuse will not draw me into an argument. If you can’t figure out the facts, I’m sorry. He’s the #1 job creater in the country, bar none, and that’s EXACTLY what this country needs.