Southwest Economy Archive

• July 31, 2026
  Is Houston’s decades-long growth spurt winding down?
  Bill King, a fellow at Rice University’s Baker Institute who follows demographic trends, believes Houston’s sustained, rapid growth may be over. He discusses how the metro area may want to consider a future where new residents no longer strain public services.
• June 26, 2026
  Texas community college enrollment slips while four-year rates stay stable

  Christa Deneault, Isabel Dhillon and Dylan Council

  In recent years, surveys have suggested that young Americans are increasingly skeptical about the value of a college education. Perceptions that a college education doesn’t offer the gateway that it once did raise an important question for lawmakers and educators: Are these changing attitudes translating into fewer students enrolling in college or completing degrees?
• June 5, 2026
  Oil prices are up; whither the Texas boom?

  Robert Leigh, Jesse Thompson and Luis Torres

  Texas tends to report higher employment and output when oil prices sharply increase. But uncertainty regarding the duration of elevated prices could mute such impacts from the price shock following the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
• May 22, 2026
  Texas economy shows resilience amid geopolitical uncertainty

  Isabel Brizuela and Ethan Dixon

  The Texas labor market showed signs of increasing momentum in early 2026, with employment growing 1.7 percent during the first quarter after a sluggish 2025.
• May 20, 2026
  Trader remains bullish on cattle despite economic, contagion threats
  Leslie Callahan, a co-founder and principal of cattle trading firm Crossroads Cattle, discusses the reasons behind record-high beef prices and challenges facing the industry.
• May 20, 2026
  Ranchers herd it all as fewer cattle pressure beef prices; screwworm lurks

  Ethan Dixon and Mariam Yousuf

  Texas cattle ranchers typically benefit from an increase in beef prices, but more recently, the reemergence of the flesh-eating New World screwworm parasite threatens the beef industry.
• May 8, 2026
  Eleventh Federal Reserve District banks maintain growth, profitability heading into 2026

  Kristof Csaky, JR Garcia and Ozge Ozden

  Eleventh District banks, benefitting from steady profits, strong credit conditions and improving bank capital levels, are well positioned to compete in a changing regulatory environment.
• April 15, 2026
  Texas homeowners pay high insurance costs, face rising premiums

  Mariam Yousuf

  Home insurance premiums have risen dramatically in the postpandemic years, with the median Texas homeowner paying 60 percent more for home insurance in 2024 compared with 2019, American Community Survey data show.
• April 10, 2026
  Is the system failing when hard work, education not enough?
  Gary Hoover, author of "Ladder or Lottery: Economic Promises and the Reality of Who Gets Ahead," discusses why some people who follow the rules for getting ahead instead fall behind.
• April 8, 2026
  Ciudad Juarez retools amid job losses

  Isabel Brizuela, Jesus Cañas, Luis Torres and Diego Morales-Burnett

  Ciudad Juarez, across the Rio Grande from El Paso, lost nearly one-fifth of its manufacturing jobs over a two-year period. The decline reflects the city’s move into higher value-added, less labor-intensive production of electronics and hardware demanded for the U.S.’s burgeoning data center build-out.