One can quibble over the numbers as well as the methodologies and time frames used to calculate Texas' job gains as a share of the nation's since the end of the recession. And certainly the professor from ASU raises some valid critiques.

But to my mind what's significant is that among the 10 largest states, Texas had proportionately fewer job losses during the recession and has done better than the others in both relative and absolute job gains since the recovery began. Of course the same has been true over the last 20 years as well as the last two.

The interesting question is: to what degree can Texas' good fortune be attributed to enlightened political leadership and to what degree it can be explained by demographics and to what degree it can be explained by a resurging energy industry? I would argue that all three have played a role!

Sincerely,

Bernard (Bud) Weinstein