The Myth of the Myth of the Texas Miracle

Good piece at NRO, rubbishing liberals' claims about Texas' unemployment situation and poverty rate.

You probably know that while Obama benefits, statistically, from discouraged workers -- workers who have simply left the work force entirely, due to the futility of finding work, and hence are not included in the unempoloyment rate -- Texas' unemployment rate is distorted by the large number of encouraged workers entering the state to find work.

But here's something worth mentioning about the claims about Texas' supposedly-high poverty rate:

Plumer: “The state boasts the highest percentage of minimum-wage workers in the country . . . .”

Meyerson: “It has the fourth-highest poverty rate of any state. . . .”

Unfortunately, neither of these writers really understands what these numbers mean. The biggest problem with both claims is that Texas has the second largest percentage of under-18-year-olds in the country. Children between ages 0 and 17 don’t make much income, if any, but they nonetheless are factored into per capita income calculations. In order usefully to compare what people are making across the states, a better approach is to compare GDP per adult. In 2008 Texas ranked 14th, which is not too shabby. Even more important, from the day Perry became governor in 2000, until 2010, Texas ranked 10th in terms of real GDP growth per adult. By contrast, California ranked 24th.

Krugman and his cronies may not realize it, but Texas’s very young population also dramatically raises the rate of people in the population earning the minimum wage. Given that single women with kids make up such a large portion of those in poverty, it isn’t surprising that the high birth rate also drives up the poverty rate.

On the other hand, Daniel Foster looks at claims that Perry is practicing "crony capitalism" and, alas, cannot entirely rebut them.

I'm bothered by his point five:

5. Perry is not (yet) Rod Blagojevich. Conspicuously missing from the Perry stories is any suggestion that Perry himself has done anything unlawful. “If this were a real charge,” as Sullivan puts it, “Mr. Democratic Strategist Who Hates Rick Perry would take his case to the FBI and not the Washington Post.”

Well that's not very encouraging.

I don't see anything there, though. Texas, like any state government, awards licenses and contracts; yes, many of these go to rich businessmen who donate to Rick Perry, but... I imagine the list of rich Texas businessmen who don't donate to Rick Perry is rather short.

This looks sinister if you proceed from the assumption that every contract or license must be a quid pro quo. But these are routine grants. And political donations are themselves routine.

posted by Ace at 01:09 PM

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