Southwest Economy Archive

• December 15, 2021
  Natural gas demand recovers, lifts prices

  Jesse Thompson

  Global demand for U.S. natural gas has risen as many pandemic-induced limits on economic activity have been lifted, but domestic production has only slowly recovered.
• September 30, 2021
  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.
• September 30, 2021
  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.
• September 30, 2021
  President’s perspective
  President Kaplan shares recent thoughts on excesses and imbalances, asset purchases and the federal funds rate, and supply/demand imbalances.
• September 30, 2021
  Technology displaced workers in pandemic; retraining must expand
  Tamar Jacoby, president of Opportunity America, discusses the pandemic, worker mobility and job training.
• September 30, 2021
  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.
• September 30, 2021
  U.S. recessions test Latino advances
  Economic outcomes of Latinos are far more sensitive to the business cycle than are outcomes for non-Hispanic whites.
• September 30, 2021
  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.
• June 18, 2021
  Federal COVID-19 relief aided consumer debt, though immigrant Texans derived less benefit

  Wenhua Di and Chloe Smith

  The prevalence of various federal-level assistance programs helped U.S. and Texas residents shore up their household finances during the COVID-19 recession. Among mostly immigrant groups, this tendency was less pronounced, likely due to legal and socioeconomic barriers.
• June 18, 2021
  Texas winter deep freeze broke refining, petrochemical supply chains

  Jesse Thompson

  It may take the Texas petrochemical industry until year-end 2021 to fully recover from the record cold that triggered power outages and supply disruptions in mid-February.