Southwest Economy, Third Quarter 2021

Third Quarter 2021
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• Once-oil-dependent Texas economy to keep growing as renewable energy expands
  Christopher Slijk and Keith R. Phillips
  The negative environmental impacts of global warming have motivated the beginnings of a global transition from traditional fossil fuels to renewable energy.
• Federal support keeps state budgets (including Texas’) healthy amid tumult from COVID-19-induced economic ills
  Jason Saving
  An unprecedented federal fiscal response to the COVID-19-induced recession in early 2020 helped prop up state government finances even among states whose tax and finance structures put them at particular risk during a downturn. A variety of programs helped individuals, firms and jurisdictions avoid what some feared would be a catastrophic collapse.
• Technology displaced workers in pandemic; retraining must expand
  On the record: A conversation with Tamar Jacoby
  Tamar Jacoby, president of Opportunity America, discusses the pandemic, worker mobility and job training..
• Spotlight: Missteps along U.S.–Mexico border hinder movement of COVID-19 biomedical trade
  Keighton Hines and Roberto Coronado
  While most activity in the Paso del Norte region is concentrated in automotive parts and electronic components, a cluster of biomedical manufacturers has emerged in Juárez in recent years.
• Go figure: Birth rates falling faster in Texas than U.S.
  Design: Olumide Eseyin; Content: James Lee, Pia Orrenius, Ana Pranger
  Although birth rates in Texas remain higher than in the U.S., their decline since 2007 has been particularly noteworthy.
• Snapshot: U.S. recessions test Latino advances
  Deep holes in the pandemic safety net further imperiled Latino progress in 2020 and almost surely will in 2021 as well.
• President’s perspective
  Robert S. Kaplan