Southwest Economy Archive

• December 6, 2023
  Fed credibility enhanced when public finds policymakers relatable
  University of Chicago Booth School associate professor Michael Weber explains how audiences are especially receptive to monetary policy messaging delivered by Fed officials whose ethnic or gender background is similar to theirs and outlines the broader implications of such enhanced credibility.
• November 29, 2023
  New disruption from artificial intelligence exposes high-skilled workers

  Ana Pranger and Yichen Su

  With workers still grappling with the consequences of automation, the lightning-speed pace of artificial intelligence (AI) development poses fresh concerns of a new wave of worker displacement.
• November 17, 2023
  State output remains distinctly Texan, while jobs mix increasingly resembles the U.S.

  Jesse Thompson and Keighton Hines

  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.
• October 20, 2023
  Strong U.S. labor market drives record remittances to Mexico

  Jesus Cañas and Ana Pranger

  Remittances from the U.S. to Mexico reached a record $55.9 billion in 2022. Strong employment in the U.S. construction sector—a leading employer of Mexican migrants—best explains the recent growth of remittances to Mexico.
• October 18, 2023
  Hotter summer days heat up Texans but chill the state economy

  Aparna Jayashankar, Prithvi Kalkunte, Anil Kumar and Pia Orrenius

  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.
• September 29, 2023
  Bankers, regulators absorb lessons of Silicon Valley Bank failure as new tests emerge
  Ben Munyan, director of supervisory policy in the Banking Supervision Department at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, discusses the challenges the banking industry faces in an era of rapidly rising interest rates and how Texas institutions have fared.
• July 7, 2023
  Mexican IT services firm pitches ‘nearshoring’ as alternative to overseas ties
  Softek chief executive Beni Lopez discusses the competitive challenges the firm faces in the North American market, where many of the world’s leading tech services firms are based, and the genesis of the company’s nearshoring strategy.
• June 1, 2023
  District banks meet challenging times from position of strength

  Ben Munyan

  Texas banks confront an increasingly challenging operating environment, as the state’s usually strong economic growth is predicted to slow later this year and the Federal Reserve’s rapidly rising interest rate environment pressures some institutions’ profitability.
• May 5, 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.
• April 21, 2023
  Texas’ cheap housing edge slipping away as resilient demand outpaces supply

  Wenhua Di and Aparna Jayashankar

  Housing affordability has declined in Texas, a top destination for domestic and international migrants drawn by its historically low cost of living.