Southwest Economy
Overflowing U.S. shale gas increasingly streams to Mexico and onto global markets
Huge volumes of imported shale gas from the United States have provided the ample supply for Mexico’s growing energy needs, keeping power prices down for industries and households.
October 31, 2025
Southwest Economy
New Mexico fuels U.S. crude oil output, funding for local programs
New Mexico has become a U.S. leader in energy production over the past five years, drawing on Permian Basin reserves in the southeastern corner of the state. Oil and gas proceeds fund an increasing share of state government, most notably involving education programs.
March 24, 2025
Southwest Economy
Electric reliability concerns spur Texas backup generation boom
Amid growing concerns about reliability of electricity services across power-hungry Texas, deployment of back-up power sources—microgrids and alternative generation—is increasing. These assets, serving customers ranging from college campuses to oilfield operations, help keep the lights on when disaster strikes.
December 06, 2024
Southwest Economy
Old oil fields reimagined as lithium sources
The Smackover Formation, extending broadly from East Texas to Florida, is ground zero in the effort to produce lithium from oilfield brines.
September 20, 2024
Southwest Economy
Electricity providers hard pressed to keep up with growing tech-heavy demand
Dallas Fed economist Kunal Patel discusses the strains on the power grid, including those arising from Texas’ growing population, electrification of the economy, nearshoring and evolving technologies.
July 10, 2024
Southwest Economy
Addressing Texas grid reliability: Time to go nuclear?
Thirty years after Texas’ last nuclear plant opened, new nuclear generation could provide needed power without planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions.
May 13, 2024
Widening gap between rich and poor poses challenge to U.S.
Economist Jeffrey Fuhrer, a nonresident fellow at the Brookings Institution and former Boston Fed director of research, discusses the nation’s income and wealth gaps and offers proposals to close them. Fuhrer’s recently published book, “The Myth that Made Us,” explores inequalities in the nation’s economic system.
December 13, 2023
Southwest Economy
State output remains distinctly Texan, while jobs mix increasingly resembles the U.S.
Lore and data have historically suggested that Texas is unlike any other place. Over the past 40 years, change has swept the state. Texas’ employment composition has increasingly come to resemble the entirety of the U.S., more so than even California or New York. But Texas economic output is another story.
November 17, 2023
Southwest Economy
Hotter summer days heat up Texans but chill the state economy
As climate change intensifies over the next decade, summer heat waves will likely become more common and severe. The effect on Texas GDP growth is likely to be twice as pronounced as in the rest of the U.S. Meanwhile, the effect on job growth will likely be relatively subdued but vary widely across sectors.
October 18, 2023
Energy transition means more than just additional electric vehicles
Dallas Fed economist David Rapson discusses the challenges of moving away from a fossil-fuel-dependent economy.
May 05, 2023