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

Second Quarter 2021
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• Federal COVID-19 Relief Aided Consumer Debt, Though Immigrant Texans Derived Less Benefit
  Wenhua Di and Chloe Smith
  U.S. and Texas residents shored up their household finances during the COVID-19 recession. The prevalence of various federal-level assistance programs helped boost savings and broadly reduce debt. Among mostly immigrant groups, this tendency was less pronounced, likely due to legal and socioeconomic barriers.
• 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. Production of basic petrochemical products used in a range of intermediate and consumer goods was interrupted, breaking supply chains already strained by COVID-19 and leading to price pressures and scores of product shortages.
• Texas Restaurants Find Change on Postpandemic Menu
  On the Record: Conversation with Emily Williams Knight
  Emily Williams Knight, president and CEO of the Texas Restaurant Association, discusses how the dining industry survived COVID-19 and the changes that have occurred.
• Banks Face New Challenges as Texas Rebounds from COVID-19 Shock
  Amy Chapel, Kory Killgo and Kelly Klemme
  The banking industry faced significant challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, with profitability declining to levels not seen since the 2008–09 financial crisis. While strong economic growth during 2021 is expected as the economy reopens, some credit deterioration and losses are still possible as fiscal stimulus and national forbearance programs end.
• Spotlight: Oil Patch Productivity Rises; Jobs Vanish
  Garrett Golding and Sean Howard
  After major oil price busts in 2014 and 2020, the same engineering prowess that helped the oil and gas industry thrive has been driven to find efficiencies to lower operating costs. The result: Fewer workers are needed to produce the same oil and gas output.
• Go Figure: Women Took Brunt of Pandemic Job Loss as Priorities Shifted to Home
  Design: Olumide Eseyin; Content: Camila L. Holm, Yichen Su
  Working women fared worse than men in the pandemic—a reversal from the Great Recession
• President’s Perspective
  Robert S. Kaplan

First Quarter 2021
Complete issue | Print version

• COVID-19 Slammed into Texas, Leaving Long-Lasting Impacts
  Emily Kerr, Judy Teng and Keith Phillips
  The economic road from the COVID-19 recession in Texas will likely feature a steeper, more rapid climb than the usual gradual rise associated with most recoveries. Some structural changes that the pandemic wrought will take longer to resolve, including those that will make work from home a longer-term occupational reality for some.
• COVID-19 Poses Stubborn Challenge to Economic Growth in Mexico
  Jesus Cañas and Chloe Smith
  Mexico, confronting a high rate of COVID-19 infection and an ineffectual medical response, recorded the largest decline in gross domestic product in a quarter century last year. While manufacturing trade with the U.S. provided economic support, the large and hard to reach off-the-books informal sector proved more troublesome and will play an important role in the nation’s performance in 2021.
• On the Record: A Conversation with Alan D. Viard
  Value-Added Tax Could Restrain Long-Term Federal Debt
  Alan D. Viard, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, studies tax and budget policy. A former senior economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, Viard discusses how to address the U.S. budget deficit in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Spotlight: Pandemic Pushes Texas Minority Unemployment Beyond Highs Reached During Great Recession
  Carlee Crocker and Pia Orrenius
  Recessions are hardest on minorities; the COVID-19 downturn is no different in that regard. Texas is a majority minority state—more than half of Texas’ population is Hispanic or Black—and the consequences are far-reaching if those groups lag behind economically.
• Go Figure: Collapsing Fuel Demand Tanks Texas Exports During Pandemic’s Peak
  Design: Justin Chavira; Content: Emma Marshall, Pia Orrenius
  The COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc on Texas energy exports. U.S. energy exports excluding Texas were dramatically less affected.
• Snapshot: Dining Out Picks Up in Texas, Houston
  The number of patrons dining at restaurants surged in Texas and Houston after the state thawed from a deep freeze in February and COVID-19 constraints on restaurants and bars were lifted March 10.
• President’s Perspective
  Robert S. Kaplan