Could an Independent Texas Survive Economically? The Facts Say 'Yes'

by Dave Mundy

Many of those who scoff at the notion of Texas independence do so by trying to paint a portrait of a trailer-park redneck republic which slides rapidly into Third World status without the many intricate connections to its sister states fostered by the benevolent government in Washington, D.C.

"...its worth would crater precipitously, after NAFTA rejected it and the United States slapped it with an embargo that would make Cuba look like a free-trade zone," one blogger predicts. "Indeed, Texas would quick become the next North Korea, relying on foreign aid due to its insistence on relying on itself.

"In short: the state of Texas would rapidly become direly impoverished, would need to be heavily armed, and would be wracked with existential domestic and foreign policy threats. It would probably make our failed states list in short order. Probably better to pay the damn taxes."

But is that an accurate portrait – and are the "damned taxes" the problem? The facts suggest otherwise.

For starters, the Texas economy isn't based on trailer-park economics.

As noted in Wikipedia, the Texas economy is the largest one that's still growing in the U.S., and in 2006 the state was home of six of the top 50 companies on the Fortune 500 list and 58 of the top 500 – the most of any state. In 2008, the state had a Gross Domestic Product of $1.245 trillion, second-largest in the U.S. and 15th-largest in the world.

Texas currently conducts more than $150 billion a year in trade with other nations; it leads all other states in exports, and has for five consecutive years. In 2005, per-capita domestic production in Texas was $42,975 per person.

Them toothless trailer-park hoochie mommas sure do know how to work, don't they?

Texas has the second-largest workforce in the nation, some 11 million citizen workers, and an unemployment rate among the lowest in the U.S. The reason for that: the state government has made economic development a priority in recent years, and has helped create a favorable business climate for companies looking to relocate. Texas also eschews a state-level income tax on prooductivity and its real-estate prices compared to other states and regions remain largely undervalued.

Moreover, the state's economy is far from the two-dimensional stereotype commonly portrayed. Texas is a lot more than just cattle and oil.

Sure, Texas leads the nation in the production of beef, oil and natural gas. It also leads the nation in both the production of alternative energy and in the construction of new alternative energy productin facilities; an independent Texas would be completely energy-independent and among the world's leading exporters of oil, natural gas and energy products.

Texas also has a thriving lumber industry based in the eastern part of the state, while the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is a key center for the defense industry, a banking center and the information technology industry. Texas is the nation's No. 2 manufacturer of computers, components and electronic equipment.

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October 22, 2009

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