Quote:
Originally Posted by dude1394
But the secret sauce of the city's success might be something else: history -- and an ability to learn from past mistakes.
The recession in Texas was relatively mild, partly thanks to mistakes learned by the region's real estate and energy industries, said Patrick Jankowski, an economist and vice president of research at the Greater Houston Partnership. Texas "won" the recession not only because of the jobs it's created, but also because of the jobs it's hoarded -- particularly in energy."
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I particularly like the part about the oil industry learning from the boom-bust cycle that is historically very common in the commodities industries. They had a tendency to create and destroy entire cities with the cycle as business chases ever higher yield, only to crush it themselves.
The real estate stuff, however, is not believable one bit (on the surface), as the national industry surrounding housing (i.e. builders and finance) both fed off the boom like kids at a candy buffet. As I understand, Texas government stopped the r.e. boom with banking limitations, so credit the government there.